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- \ -^- 




I 



HOOVER INSTITUTION 
on War, Revolution, and Peace 

FOUNDED BY HtkbEkl HOOVER. 191^ 



\ 



^ 



& 



■> 



i 



WITH THE ABYSSINIANS 
IN SOMALILAND 



|! 



WITH THE ABYSSINIANS 
IN SOMALILAND 



BY 

MAJOR J^ WILLES JENNINGS 

D.S.O^ R.A.M.C. ^ 

Principal Medical Officer of the FiKCt 



CHRISTOPHER / ODISON 

M.D., F.R.C.S. 
Lecturer on Anatomy, Charing Crest H< •! Medical School 

Vrno AKKANGKD THK MATTER FOR ru ~ ^TION 

WITH A PREFACE BY 

COLONEL A. N. ROCHFORT 

C.B, C.M.G^ R.A. 
Intpeaor of Royal Horte and Royal Field Artillery 



AND SIXTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 
TAKEN BY MAJOR JENNINGS, AND A MAP 



LONDON 
HODDER AND STOUGHTON 

27 PATERNOSTER ROW 

1905 



1 










' > 



PREFACE 

/^N my return to London, on the 8th May, 1904, 
after accompanying the Abyssinians in Somali- 
land, I was sometimes asked by those of my friends 
who had noticed my absence where I had been and 
what I had been doing. A satisfactory answer was 
beyond the limits of a casual conversation, so I 
recommend those inquirers, and all others who are 
interested in Abyssinia, to read this book, which 
embodies Major Jennings's diary of our expedition. 

He has well described che operations in the field, 
and I venture to think that the information he has 
collected regarding the folk-lore, the characteristics, 
and customs of the Abyssinians will prove of great 
interest to the general reader. 

A. N. ROCHFORT. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

FAGK 

Somaliland — The Mullah — Expeditions against him — Abyssinian Expeditions 
— Call to go— Marseilles to Aden — Berbera — Djibouti, description of — 
Dinner with the GoYemor — The railway to Dire Daouw — Rolling stock 
— Scene at the station — ^The journey to Dire Daouw . • • 3 

CHAPTER II 

Dire Daouw — Fleas and bugs — March to Harrar — Camp at Adele — American 
and Manchester goods — Olive oil — Arrival at Harrar — Plans — Colonel 
Rochfort's Staff— Call on Ras Makunnan — Dinner with the Ras — Mr. 
Gerolimato — The King's birthday — The Ras's power — Harrar — Natives 
— Customs — Women — Mutilation of enemies — ^The streets — Refuse lying 
about — Houses — The hospital — Leper hospital : the staff, administra- 
tion, and treatment — The fathers* impressions, ideas, and superstitions — 
"Snakes" . . . . ... 15 

CHAPTER III 

Country round Harrar — Temperature — Produce — Coffee — Cattle — Caravans 
and mules — Birds — Insects — The stink ant — Camp outside Harrar — 
Shooting — Colonel Rochfort leaves for J igjiga — Arrival of Major Alone — 
Difficulties of preparing the Expedition — March to Feyambiro — Night 
in a native hut — The camp at Feyambiro — Occupations — The camel — 
Method of loading and names of mats, etc — The camel's gait . •Si 

CHAPTER IV 

Convoying treasury chests to Jigjiga — The Gureis Mountain — The country 
about Jigjiga — ^Jigjiga — Abdullah Tahr — The wells — Watering — Com- 
position of a caravan — Three months' stores — Departure of Duff and 
Dunn — Assistant-Surgeon Wakeman — Small Game — Shooting — Arrival 
of Alone — March to Sesebani, Gaho— Order of march — Harakley — 
Elevation of country — Jailee — The thorn bushes, description of — Tuli 
— ^** Interpreter " — Dagabur — Interruption of march . . . 75 



Tiu WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 



CHAPTER V 

FAGI 

Bad newt from Farto— Colonel Rochfort — The proceedings of the Abys- 
•inians — Dagabur — The wells — The country round — Ant-hills — Abdul- 
lah Tahr — Shooting oryx — Tracking a runaway mule — Arrival of DuflF 
and Dunn — A lion tale — Good news from the Colonel — The march 
resumed — Sesebani — The wells — Arrival of Ogilvy — March to Dagaha 
Mado^Camp at Dagaha Mado^Ramsay-Fairfax . . 103 



CHAPTER VI 

Dagaha Mado — The wells — Method of sounding — Passage of the Abys- 
sinian army through Dagaha Mado — A swallowed leech — News from 
the Colonel — The Abyssinians and their animals — Departure from 
Dagaha Mado — Instructions for the advance — The Staflf—Duflf— Ser- 
geant Tubb — Somali women — Somalia and Abyssinians — Shooting — 
My syce — Sesebani — March to Gabridehari — En, Aggal, Doohrie, War- 
andab^ Gabridehari • • • • . . 125 



CHAPTER VII 

Gabridehari — The march resumed-^Beribu — Shooting — Adeleh — The trees 
and water — Gerlogubi — The wells — Evidence of a higher civilisation — 
An Abyssinian opinion of the country — Orders from the Colonel — 
Operations of the Somaliland Field Force — ^Jidballi — March to War- 
dair — The mails — Expedition to Gumbumi — The battle-field and 
Cobbe's sareba . . • • . . 145 



CHAPTER VIII 

Wardair — Despatch from General Egerton — Commotion in camp — Inspec- 
tion of Walwal — Consultations — Decision to concentrate at Gerlogubi 
— Temporary reoccupation of Wardair — Failure of the water at Gerlo- 
gubi — Shortage of the Abyssinian supplies — Concentration at Gorahai 
— Drastic treatment — The plain of Gorahai — The bush, a nightmare — 
The district around camp — Arrival of Alone and Wakeman — The 
whole party together — The Abyssinian camp : plan of; stench of — 
Doctoring camels — The native's thick head— Baird — Dunn— Capitano 
Citerni and his dog . . . . . . 161 



CONTENTS ix 



CHAPTER IX 



FAGK 



Abyssinian Customs : Method of obtaining information — Wakeman— • 
Mobilisation and equipment — Soldiers — Ranks — Transport — Dress — 
Decorations — Fighting qualities and methods — Tribute system — Coin- 
age — Calendar — Seasons — Posts — Education— Justice and crime — The 
Thief Catcher . . . . . . . i8i 



CHAPTER X 

AiYSsiNiAN Customs {coutinMul) : Dress, male and female — Sleep— Food — 
Drink — Industries — Musicians — Marriage : i, by jury ; 2, by sacra- 
ment J 3, by concubinage — Divorce — Marriages amongst the Gallas — 
Abyssinian baptism, circumcision, names, Yaccination, religion — The 
priests — Fasts — Feasts — Medicine — Hystero-epilepsy — Booda . .201 



CHAPTER XI 

Th£ Somali : The shikari — General impression — ^Jabber — Work — Dress — 
Men and women — Status of women — Food and Drink — Liars — 
Enmity between the Abyssinians and the Somalis: examples of — 
Hockey match and a friee fight — Nakeativx rksumid : Ceremonial calls 
— Midgans — Extracts from the diary — My syce again : the last of him 
— Further accounts of the operations — Extended shooting expeditions 
— A three days* shoot — Oryx — Gerenuk — The Colonel's achievement . 125 



CHAPTER XII 

Shooting expedition to Las Bullaleh — Incidents by the way — The lion 
zarebas — Ogilvy's success — Rhinoceros tracks — Shooting a bull rhi- 
noceros — Quarrel in camp — The Basha Balina — Return to Gorahai — 
Movements of other members of the party — Councils of war — Decision 
to retire — Camp struck and the route of the different parties — Gorahai 
to Sesebani — Sesebani to Hargeisa — Tribesmen's quarrels by the way — 
A lion story — Hargeisa — Hargeisa to Berbera — The party complete 
again — Fairfax goes to Illig — Assembly at Aden — Return home . • 249 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



No. Subject. Page 

1. CoMMIftAIIAT StOIEI, BuBBKA ... 9 

2. No. 2 Genual Hospital, Bubbra ... 9 

3. A Casgo op Humanity, 8.s. ^^ Falcon" . . . . II 

4. The Gotirnor'i House, Djibouti . . . 15 

5. Adagalla Railway Station . . . . 15 

6. Smiling Somalis ... 20 

7. DiRB Daouw . . ... 20 

8. The Entrance to Ras Makunnan's Palace, Haerar . -Si 

9. Somali Women Pounding Coppee-berries . . . 37 

10. Somali Women Grinding Corn . . • • • 37 

11. A Street in Harrar . ... 40 

12. The Market, Harrar . ... 40 

13. Galla Girli Selung Ghee, Harrar . . 44 

14. At the Leper Hospital, Harbar . ... 44 

15. Water-carriers, Harrar • • • 53 

16. On the Road to Feyambibo ... 64 

17. A DiNNEB op Thorns . . ... 64 

18. Ground-ploor Plan op a Somali Hut . . . 65 

19. "First, get the Camel down" . . . . . 71 

20. The Herio Applied . . . . . 71 

21. The Treasury Chests on the Way to Jigjiga . . . 77 

22. Jigjiga Fort . . . . , , , 'j'j 

23. At the Wells, Jigjiga . . . . 81 

24. The Kitchen at Jigjiga — Sergeants Tvbb and Shepkebd . 81 

25. Somali and Aoul . . . ... 89 

26. SOMAU AND GeBENVK ... 89 

27. OuB MiDGAN Guide . ... 94 

28. At the Wells, Dagabur . . . . 103 

29. An Ant-hill neab Dagabur . . 109 

30. Heads op Obyx and Lesser Koodoo . . . . 109 

31. Somali Women with Hans . . . . . 120 



xu WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 



No. Snbject. 

32. A Mat Hut — Somali 

33. AbYUXNIANS STRAGGUIfG INTO DaCAHA MaDO . 

34. RiVU-BEO AND POOU, £n 

35. WivBt and thiib Mattim 

36. Smiling Gallas 

37. Striking Camp, Seisbani 

38. Thb Drbary March 

39. British OFFiciRt, Gkrlogubi 

40. A Midday Halt 

41. Plan or thr Abyssinian Camp, Gorahai 

42. Falling into Placi bsfore Marching off 

43. A ** Dwsf^DETiL " Approaching, about to strikk 

44. A ** DUST-DKVIL " DsPARTIIfGy HAVING STRUCK 

45. SaND-GROUSK for TBI PoT 

46. Thb Abyssinian Camp, Gorahai 

47. A Corner of thi Abyssinian Camp, Gorahai 

48. Gkrasmatch Dusta entering the Zareba . 
49 Abyssinian Chiefs and Followers in *' Review Order* 

50. Abyssinian Soldiers in Full Dress 

51. FrruAiARi Gabri, Balambaras Assbguo and Boot-guard 
53. Two Shorn Lambs, Fiesah and Georgii 

53. Pool in Rivbr-bbd, Gorahai 

54. Abyssinlaii Raiding Party 
55* Morning Prayer — Abdulahi conducting 
56. Morning Prayer — Abdulahi conducting 
57* Morning Prayer — Abdulahi conducting 

58. Habr Awal Somalis 

59. Duff and Baird dispensing Justicb, Gorahai 
6o« His Majesty Ugaz Hasri, King op the Rbr Ugaz 

61. A Favourite Somali Attitude op Rest 

62. Ogilvy and Lion 

63. Plan of Routs to Las Bullaleh . 

64. Skinning a Victim 

65. The Head of the Bull Rhinoceros set up 

66. Ogilvy and Wart Hog . 

67. Somali and Leopard (Dunn's) 

68. A Wild Pig . 



PBC« 
120 

136 
136 

141 

145 
"49 
149 
155 
161 
168 
168 
170 
170 

I7» 
182 
182 

187 
190 
202 
202 
216 
"5 
»»5 
"5 
228 
236 
*4i 
»4i 
249 

»S« 
»S3 
aS3 
256 
260 
260 



CHAPTER I 



CHAPTER I 

Somaliland — The Mullah — Expeditions against him — Abyssinian 
Expeditions — Call to go — Marseilles to Aden — Berbera — 
Djibouti, description of — Dinner with the Governor — The railway 
to Dire Daouw — Rolling stock — Scene at the station — The 
journey to Dire Daouw 

npHE interior of the "great horn" of Africa, 
under the name of Somaliland, has been of 
special interest to our fellow countrymen during 
recent years. It may roughly be described as extend- 
ing from a little north of the Equator on the south 
to the Gulf of Aden on the north, from the Indian 
Ocean on the east to the country of the Gallas and 
the Webbe Shabileh on the west, and measuring 
some 500 miles in its greatest length from north to 
south and 400 miles in its greatest breadth from east 
to west. It is a dry land ; a land of thorn trees, 
of desert and of prairie. 

The British Protectorate comprises a strip of 
territory about 300 miles in length, running east and 
west along the southern shore of the Gulf of Aden 
and extending southwards, about 80 miles on the 
west side, and 200 miles on the east. Its southern 
limit is formed for the most part by the immense 

3 



4 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

waterless plateau of the Haud. To the south-west is 
the country of the Ogaden, Rer Ali, Habr Awal and 
other Somali tribes, and to the west are the Gadabursi 
Country, the Abyssinian province of Harrar and 
French Somaliland. The country to the south-west 
of the British Protectorate is recognised as the 
Abyssinian sphere of influence. To the east and 
south-west of the Haud is the Mudug district — the 
hinterland of the Italian Protectorate and the scene of 
a great part of the operations of the various Somali- 
land expeditions. 

During Gu, or the wet season, from the beginning 
of March to mid-May, grazing is plentiful, and the 
tribes with their flocks and herds can move freely 
about. Their movements are more restricted during 
the subsequent periods of the lesser rains, and, during 
Jilal, or the dry season, from mid-November to the 
end of February, they are tied to the neighbourhood 
of the diflFerent wells and watering places. It is quite 
hopeless to attempt to come up with a force of run- 
aways during the rains, for the whole country is open 
to them ; and during the dry season, the difficulties of 
supply and transport over vast waterless and pathless 
stretches render such an eflFort one of great hardship 
and doubtful of accomplishment. 

Throughout the whole of Somaliland, as in other 
lands, it has apparently been the custom from time 
immemorial for the strong to dispossess the weak of 
whatsoever goods the strong desire. Camels, cattle 
and sheep are the Somali's possessions, and raid- 



THE MULLAH 5 

ing is his pastime. Not infrequently, indeed, a party 
of raiders, laden with spoil, has found, on returning 
home, that their own Karia, or village, has suffered 
during their absence from the depredations of another 
party of raiders, belonging, maybe, to the self-same 
tribe which had provided their own victims on that 
occasion. Here and there, however, more settled 
communities have been established under Mullahs or 
Sheiks who, from their religious character, or for 
other reasons, have been free from disturbance. The 
preaching of a holy war, or jehad^ by one or other 
of these Mullahs has been undertaken from time to 
time, and will no doubt continue to be so in the 
future. 

The movement of the Mullah Mohammed AbduUa 
Ibn Hassan, once called the "Mad Mullah," was 
primarily directed against the Abyssinians ; but, as 
he gathered strength, he became able to enforce the 
principle that "whosoever was not with him was 
against him," with the result that, amongst others, 
some of the tribes which were nominally under British 
protection fell victims to his displeasure. His dis- 
turbance and plunderings of these tribes naturally 
brought him into conflict with the British authorities, 
and hence arose the necessity for the various ex- 
peditions which have been got together for his sup- 
pression. He was severely handled on various 
occasions by the expeditions of Lieutenant-Colonel 
C. J. E. Swayne in 1 901-2, particularly in the fight 
at Erigo on October 6th, 1902. Altogether during 



6 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

these two years his force sustained 2,600 casualties, 
and he suffered the loss of 40,000 camels, 3,000 
cattle, 400 horses, and 285,000 sheep. More ex- 
tended operations were undertaken during 1902-3 by 
Brigadier-General W. H. Manning, in which the 
Mullah again sustained many losses. His prestige, 
however, did not suffer as much as it would otherwise 
have done, since he managed to overcome a force of 
ten British officers and 183 men consisting of Sikhs, 
Yaos and others under Colonel Plunkett near Gum- 
buru on April 17th, 1903. 

During General Manning's campaign a force of 
5,000 Abyssinians, under the commahd of Fituarari 
Gabri, was provided by the Emperor Menelik. 
Colonel A. N. Rochfort was associated with them, 
and they co-operated with the British force, by 
occupying the country along the Webbe Shabileh and 
the south-western and western parts of the Haud ; 
the intention being to cut off the retreat of the 
Mullah, should he attempt to break away in that 
direction. The Abyssinians in various actions 
accounted for some hundreds of the Mullah's forces, 
and captured large quantities of camels and stock. 

The Mullah, however, was still far from being 
brought to terms, so that during 1903-4 still more 
extensive operations were planned under the command 
of Lieut.-General Sir C. C. Egerton, k.c.b., d.s.o. ; 
while the Emperor Menelik again undertook to assist 
in Abyssinian Somaliland. On this occasion Colonel 
Rochfort was to be provided with a small staff, and 



CALL TO GO 7 

at the same time the Emperor Menelik requested the 
services of two British medical officers. 

In this way it came to pass that on September 26th, 
1903, Captain H. N. Dunn, r.a.m.c., and myself 
found that we had had the good fortune to be offered 
the appointments. It is needless to say that the 
opportunity of active service under such novel and 
interesting conditions was accepted on the spot. We 
had both served for some years in the Egyptian army, 
and Dunn had had five and I four years* work in the 
Soudan. 

Our passages to Aden were booked the same day 
by the P. and O. steamer "Britannia," sailing on 
October 2nd, and although we did not join the vessel 
until October 9th, at Marseilles, the interval of time 
was fully occupied in the collection, arrangement and 
disposition of the necessary stores. It was necessary 
to take complete camp, field, and hospital equipment, 
together with supplies for four months. The lists 
of the medical and surgical stores taken, and those 
left in reserve, were made with the assistance of 
Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel M. W. Russell, r.a.m.c., 
and of Mr. Barnes.- On September 29th we had the 
advantage of an interview, in London, with Lieutenant- 
Colonel Sir J. Lane Harrington, K.C.M.G., c.v.o., c.b., 
H.B.M, Agent, and Consul General at Adis Ababa. 
Colonel Harrington provided us with a copy of his 
" General notes on outfit, transport, etc., for Abys- 
sinia," and in numberless matters gave us the benefit 
of his valuable advice and instruction. 



8 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

So far as game shooting was concerned, a Rigby 
double-barrel reflex '450 rifle, with india-rubber butt- 
^plate, io|^ lb. weight, 28 -in, barrel, and carrying a 
solid nickel-covered bullet of 480 grains for big game, 
a "303 Mauser-Metford for small game, and a twelve- 
bore double-barrelled shot gun, were taken. In the 
end, however, apart from the fact that my own rifles 
and gun went astray at Aden, our party was obliged to 
be content with sharing rifles, in order to cut down 
the impedimenta as much as possible. 

The details of the stores and equipments taken 
from home or purchased at Aden, Harrar, or else- 
where, need not be given in this narrative, and it is 
only necessary to introduce various criticisms by 
the way. 

Our table on board the "Britannia" comprised 
General Sir Archibald Hunter, Captain A. Duff, 
Captain H. N. Dunn, Captain Lord George Murray, 
A.D.C. to General Hunter, Mr. J. L. Baird, of the 
Diplomatic Service, Lieutenant Ogilvy, r.e., and my- 
self. DuflF, Baird, and Ogilvy, like Dunn and myself, 
were on their way to be attached to the Abyssinian 
army. 

At Port Said, on October 13th, General Hunter 
wired his " salaams " to Sir Reginald Wingate, Sirdar 
of the Egyptian army, and was good enough, on his 
own suggestion, to include Dunn's name and mine. 
He received the following in reply : " To General 
Sir Archibald Hunter, s.s. ^Britannia.* Very many 
thanks for your kind telegram. Your old comrades 




COMMISSARIAT STORES, BERBERA. 
Photograph taken on the return journey. Sec p. 264. 




No. 2 GENERAI. HOSPITAI. HKRBERA. 
Photograph taken on the return jrurney. S<e p. 264. 



Page 9. 




< 



< 



BERBERA 9 

of the Egyptian army wish you and Jennings and 
Dunn every success and prosperity. Bon voyage and 
the best of luck from us all ! " 

We made a good and rapid passage, and dis- 
embarked at Aden, on October 19th, at 8 a.m. The 
same day we received instructions from Colonel 
Rochfort to leave at that place all medical stores 
surplus to our probable requirements, and were 
advised of a number of articles, the purchase of 
which could safely be deferred until our arrival in 
Harrar. Messrs. Cowasjee, Dinshaw Brothers, sup- 
plied us with the stores we wanted, and through 
them also our syces (grooms) and tent boys were 
engaged. At Aden also we obtained a supply of 
Maria Teresa dollars for use in Abyssinia, at the 
rate of $100 per Rs. 141-8. 

There was no regular boat leaving Aden for Dji- 
bouti before the 22nd, so we received authority from 
the Port Commanding Officer to charter Messrs. 
Cowasjee, Dinshaw's s.s. "Falcon," to carry us on 
to Djibouti from Berbera, for which latter port the 
vessel sailed in the ordinary course on the evening 
after our arrival. The terms arranged for the jour- 
ney were Rs.300 for the whole party, in addition to 
Rs.5 for each servant. 

We arrived at Berbera on the 20th and a very 
busy scene we found there. Easy-going Eastern 
methods were out of fashion for the time being, and 
the place was transformed into a hive of industry, the 
co-ordination and harmony of whose working was 



lo WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

indeed remarkable. Berbera served as the base of 
the Somaliland Field Force, and the force at that 
time numbered roughly 6,000 fighting men, with 
some 12,000 coolies and others attached. The con- 
glomeration of British and Indian soldiers, native 
levies, camp followers, camels, mules, ponies, donkeys, 
sheep, mule waggons, pony carts, camel carts, and 
the rest, formed a bewildering picture of colour and 
activity. Big ships were discharging into lighters 
and dhows ; thousands of natives of all sorts and 
colours were buzzing and humming about like so 
many bees, or rather, one might say, were working 
like ants at giant ant-hills of compressed forage and 
sacks of oats ; going and coming, passing and re- 
passing, hurrying on and returning ; it seemed as if 
they moved in onward and recurrent streams in 
response to some unseen systole and diastole. 

We went ashore and paid our respects to the Com- 
mandant, Major Rawlins, and, at the invitation of 
Major F. W. Gee, i.m.s., the officer in command, 
dined at the base hospital. Later on we rejoined 
the " Falcon " and started for Djibouti at midnight. 

Our short sea voyage terminated at eight o'clock 
the next evening, when we arrived opposite Djibouti. 
To arrive opposite Djibouti was one thing, but to 
enter the port was quite another ; in point of fact, we 
were provided with four hours of the most comical 
and diverting variety entertainment that it has ever 
been our lot to witness. It appeared that, as Djibouti 
was not the vessel's regular port of call, nobody was 



DJIBOUTI, DESCRIPTION OF ii 

quite sure of the entrance in the dark. The harbour 
lights were partly screened and somewhat confused 
by the presence of two Russian men-of-war — one of 
which was, I believe, the "Czarewitch" — coaling from 
lighters some two or three miles ofF-shore. We tacked 
and turned about in the dark, and great excite- 
ment prevailed on board ; oaths and contradictory 
orders forming a choice accompaniment. "I see 
three lights," yelled the skipper. "No, two — yes, 
three — one red, two white.'* " There's only one ! " 
cried the mate. "There's four now — yes, I believe 
it is four — two red, one white ! " And so on and so 
on, ringing the changes on the numbers and the 
colours. " Dikali ! d — n you ! " shouted the skipper 
to the man at the wheel. " What the d — 1 are you 
saying ? " to the man throwing the lead. " Enough 
of that confounded lingo. Let's have it so that we 
can understand." "Twelve bottoms, no fathom," 
promptly replied the man with the lead ; his best 
Anglo-Saxon becoming a bit mixed. The skipper 
and the mate turned their bull's eyes fiercely on one 
another and then on the chart, roared and stamped 
about and swore immoderately. Finally, when every- 
body on board had been suitably anathematised, they 
gave it up in despair and dropped anchor outside 
until the morning, and fortified themselves after their 
efforts with something with soda water in it. Some- 
where in the ribs are the "laughter spots," and on that 
occasion our braces rubbed against them until they 
made them sore ; next time we mean to wear belts. 



12 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

Daylight came to our aid in due season, and we 
got through easily enough, landing at eight o'clock 
on the morning of the 22nd. 

There is a good, well-sheltered anchorage for ships 
at Djibouti a mile long and half a mile broad. The 
harbour lights which so confused our skipper and 
mate consist of a fixed white light 105 feet above high 
water and visible for 15 miles, a fixed red light 
84 feet high and visible for 9 miles, and two other 
powerful white lights in the town. 

No train left for Dire Daouw, the inland terminus 
of the railway and two marches distant from Harrar, 
before the 25th, so we had to make the best of 
things in the little French port until then. We 
stayed at the Hotel des Arcades, a three-storeyed 
building in the main street. Our bedrooms were on 
the first floor and were approached by two flights of 
stairs which the new-comer is strongly recommended 
to negotiate for the first time by daylight, seeing that 
no two steps are alike. During the afternoon follow- 
ing our arrival we called en troupe on M. Dubarry, 
the Governor, and gratefully accepted his kind in- 
vitation to dinner on the morrow. 

In many respects Djibouti is far ahead of Berbera, 
and there is no doubt that by means of its 308 kilo- 
metres of railway it has snapped up a lot of the trade 
that formerly went through Berbera. The European 
quarter of the town lies on a low promontory which, 
being lapped by the sea on three sides, gives one at 
first the impression of its being an island ; and 



DJIBOUTI, DESCRIPTION OF 13 

indeed, the low-lying ground between it and the 
mainland is very much invaded by the water at high 
tide. 

The native quarter is on this low-lying land, and 
many parts of it are regularly inundated at high 
water. Bearing this fact in mind, and the native 
habit of throwing rubbish about anywhere as well as 
the primeval character of the sanitary arrangements 
in general, it is no wonder that the stench of the 
place is very abominable. It is quite certain in fact 
that, were it not for the drying, bactericidal power 
of the tropical sun, many parts of the native quarter 
would soon be unfit for human habitation. The huts 
are rudely constructed of mats, rags, sticks, dried 
grass, mud and such-like materials. The chief mer- 
chandise consists of dates, grain, and of dried sticks 
for firewood, which latter commodity is as scarce 
there as in many places inland. 

The natives, like those at Aden and Berbera, afiTect 
" amber," and bedeck themselves with necklaces con- 
sisting sometimes of long strings of beads, or perhaps, 
of only two pieces, each as large as a hen's egg, 
threaded together with a leather lace. Several of the 
natives oflTered pearls for sale at most extortionate 
prices. 

Beggars clamouring for " baksheesh " are as plenti- 
ful in Djibouti as elsewhere, and they are peculiarly 
frank in one respect. If their importunities are not 
rewarded, thinking that their appeal is not understood, 
they will exhibit an open hand half-full of small 



14 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

change and point to it with the other. They seemed 
to wonder that the simple European should turn 
away, the notion having occurred to him that they 
were not half so poor as " by Allah ! " they said 
they were. 

The market of the European town, overlooking 
the native quarter from a height of from ten to 
fifteen feet, contained a number of wooden shelters 
and stalls on which carrots, potatoes, grain, and a few 
melons, with fish and meat, were exposed for sale — 
the meat, that is to say, was exposed so far as the 
flies allowed it to be. 

In the centre of the town is the square — "Place 
Menelik " — the sides of which are mostly lined with 
shops belonging to the ubiquitous and indispensable 
Greek, and containing every conceivable article of 
merchandise. There is a splendid road — a perfect 
bicycle track, though a short one — made of madrepore 
coral, crushed and rolled, leading from the town to 
the railway station over a bridge which spans a little 
inlet of the sea. It is lighted by standard oil lamps 
about fifty yards apart, and a low wall runs on either 
side. There is a hospital near the railway station, 
and a dispensary in the town, at which two French 
military doctors administer to the wants of the sick. 
The European part of Djibouti, taken altogether, is 
a smart, clean litde town, and many of the houses are 
good and well built, particularly the Governor's, 
which was, I think, one of the best houses we had 
seen since leaving Suez. 




THE GOVERNORS HOUSE, DJIBOUTI. 




ADAGAI^lrA STATION. 

Page 15. 




SMIUNG SO>L\US. 




ni!<i: DAorw. 



DINNER WITH THE GOVERNOR 15 

The drinking water comes from about five miles 
inland, and is pumped up and stored in reservoirs 
hewn out of the rock. None of us had time to 
visit the site of the reservoirs, but M. Bastianello, 
agent for the Compagnie de L'Afrique Orientale, 
said that the supply is practically unlimited, although, 
nominally, it depends upon the amount of rain- 
fall. He said that there were no natural springs, and 
that the collection of the water is the result of per- 
colation through the soil. The water has a brackish 
taste, owing to the presence, it was said, of magnesium 
salts in solution. It is brought to the town in iron 
pipes and rises to the first-storey level of the town 
houses, approximately 67,200 gallons being delivered 
daily. 

The kindly hospitality of M. and Madame Dubarry 
was very welcome to us, and we did full justice to 
their generous fare. After dinner M. Dubarry made 
us a happy and most friendly speech, to which " Dip- 
lomaticus " (Baird) replied in first-rate style. M. de 
Girlan, Secretary to the Governor, Madame de Car- 
Ian, and M. Bastianello, were also of the company. 
Madame de Carlan added to our collection of dogs, 
which, up to that time, consisted of three mongrel 
members, by presenting Duff with a terrier. 

Our hotel accounts for the three days and nights, 
exclusive of tips, amounted to 40 frs. each. The cost 
of transport from Djibouti to railhead was £ii los. 
per ton, and my lot of twenty-nine articles, compris- 
ing camp,^^hospital and field equipment, four months' 



i6 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

rations, and private baggage, weighing I4'77 cwt., 
cost £i2 ly. 3^. The charge for the dogs was los. 
each. 

It may be of interest to give a few details of the 
Djibouti-Dire Daouw railway, which, as a piece of 
engineering, reflects a lasting credit upon the French 
authorities.^ 

The quay at Djibouti is 500 metres square, and the 
depth of water at the jetty is from 7 to 8 metres. In 
addition to the usual station residences there are two 
workshops and a large storage shed about 15 by 30 
metres. The railway is a metre gauge, and the rails 
weigh 20 kilos per metre, and are each 10 m. long. 
The sleepers are iron, of a special " Menelik " type, 
and weigh 30 kilos each, there being thirteen of them 
per rail, and, on the average, 1,333 P^^ kilometre of 
line. The bed of ballast is 2'8o m. wide and '35 m. 
deep. There are iron telegraph posts along the left 
side, going from Djibouti, carrying four wires, one 
from Djibouti to Dire Daouw direct, one between the 
diflTerent stations, and two for general usage. The 
telegraph posts consist of three interfitting tubes, 
the whole weighing 75 kilos, and they are placed at 
70 m. distance from one another. There are ap- 
parently two kinds of engines in use on the line, 
both burning CardiflT patent fuel ; one a compound 
engine with four axles weighing 35 tons, and the 
other with three axles weighing 29 tons. There 

^ For some of the details given we are indebted to La Dif^cke 
Colomale llltutree^ No. 16, Aout, 1903. 



THE RAILWAY TO DIRE DAOUW 17 

are some bogie waggons of four axles, weighing 10 
tons each and carrying a load of 22 tons, and others 
with two axles, weighing 5 tons each and carrying a 
load of 10 tons. The passenger carriages are first 
and second class combined, and third class. Our 
train was made up of one of the heavier engines, 
a guard's van, four open trucks, one third and two 
first and second class combined carriages. Including 
these, I noticed altogether, at different places along the 
line, nine engines, of which three were undergoing re- 
pairs, twenty-one covered trucks, sixty-six open trucks, 
four first and second class carriages with combined 
couplings and buffers, and one third class carriage, 
half a dozen trolleys, and a miscellaneous amount of 
railway material. At many places along the line, 
sometimes only about five kilometres apart, there are 
wells sunk to variable depths in the rock which serve 
for the water supply. Fourteen parties of railway 
gangers were seen along the line. Each party 
numbered six or seven natives (one of whom carried 
a rifle and mounted guard) and was in charge of a 
European, apparently either a Frenchman, an Italian, 
or a Greek. These figures doubtless are not a com- 
plete summary of the railway material, as two or three 
naps helped to pass the time on the journey, and 
darkness came on a short time before reaching Dire 
Daouw. The figures will, however, indicate with 
sufficient nearness the present powers of the line. 
Unfortunately the traffic along the railway at the 
present time is far from making it a remunerative 



i8 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

undertaking ; — the cost of working was said to be 
1 1 5,000 francs per month, and the receipts only some 
1 5,000 francs ! The line certainly taps a rich district, 
but its prospects are so involved in political con- 
siderations that speculation upon them would be 
foolish. 

We booked our passage and cleared the luggage at 
Djibouti on the 24th, so that all that remained to be 
done at the station at six o'clock the next morning, 
on our departure, was to pay for the dogs and light 
kit. This was a very complex affair at Djibouti, and 
the attendant uproar and excitement beggar descrip- 
tion. English, French, Greeks, Arabs, and Somalis all 
talked at once ; the railway officials, being possessed 
of horns, blew vigorous blasts both fore and aft ; the 
engine whistled and let off steam ; the dogs barked ; 
and crowds of yelling natives filled in the details of 
the pandemonium. 

Our party on the train was joined by Lieutenant 
C. L. Hussey, u.s.a.n., going to Adis Ababa to 
negotiate a commercial treaty between Abyssinia and 
the United States. 

After leaving Djibouti, the railway crosses a desert 
plain intersected by numbers of litde torrent beds, 
and their existence has necessitated a lot of bridging 
work. A light bridge of 12 metres* span leads over 
the bed of the Sch6b616 at k.19, where the ravine is 
over 70 feet deep and about 170 yards wide. Near 
HoU-HoU station at k.52 we had an opportunity 
of seeing the fine metal viaduct which runs over 



THE JOURNEY TO DIRE DAOUW 19 

the confluence of the Lour£ and Holl-HoU river 
beds some icx) feet below. After the first few kilo- 
metres from Djibouti the way mounts rapidly into 
the mttritime range of hills, and at k.6o attains the 
plateau of Sermangel6 at an elevation of 1,900 feet. 
The whole scene up to that point, and for some 
distance beyond it, is arid and desolate in the extreme. 
There is nothing but a vast extent of black volcanic 
stones littering the ground ; here, small and sparse, 
there, huge and massed together ; not a blade of grass 
or a stunted shrub serves to break the monotony of 
the horizon. Doubtless during the rainy season, 
when the stony river beds are occupied by raging 
torrents and the vegetation spreads downwards along 
them towards the coast, the outlook is less dreary. 

Our journey was often laborious. There was a lot 
of " puffy, pushy, pulley, but no goey " about it, as a 
native was heard to remark. The engine, another 
suggested, ^^ eaty too much coal and drinky too much 
water ; he broken winded." Our progress, however, 
was of a " Scotch express '* character as compared with 
that of a certain train on an Egyptian railway, con- 
cerning which a story, that had not suffered in the 
repetition, went the round in the Soudan. It was to 
the effect that one morning a man booked his ticket 
in the ordinary way, but when the train arrived he 
was not allowed to join it, being told that "Your 
ticket is for to-day's train ; this is yesterday's train, 
and to-day's train doesn't come in till to-morrow, so 
you can't go." 



20 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

About k.70 the first faint green of struggling vege- 
tation appeared, and stunted scrub and meagre mimosas 
began to show between the boulders. The ground 
in that district is red, and soon afterwards becomes 
quite gravelly ; the hillocks are less abrupt, and a few 
small cacti put in an appearance. Near k.90 a strong 
post is perched on a rocky height overlooking the 
country in all directions, and there the red, yellow, 
and green Abyssinian flag greets us, and we enter the 
territory of " the King of Kings." Across the river 
of Daonauli at k.io6 we reached the station of that 
name, and stopped for lunch. Situated in an amphi- 
theatre of high hills, it is a picturesque spot, and I 
noticed mountain ash, tamarind, and the Dead Sea 
apple growing. The green globular fruit of the Dead 
Sea apple, by the way, is a useful commodity to the 
malingerer ; incised, it exudes an irritant juice, of the 
colour and consistency of milk ; and Egyptian con- 
scripts in the Soudan have been known to introduce 
it into their eyes in order to set up an inflammation, 
which they hoped would provide occasion for their 
being invalided home. 

From Daonauli we had a capital spin as far as 
k.125, after which, with a hundred twists and turns, 
we threaded our way uphill again — in one place 
nearly looping the loop on a high semicircular em- 
bankment — until we attained the plateau of Lassarat 
near k.140, at a height of 2,660 feet. In that neigh- 
bourhood we caught glimpses of large open plains 
of greyish earth, covered with a short stubble, on 



THE JOURNEY TO DIRE DAOUW 21 

which flocks of sheep and goats and several camels 
were grazing. Thereabouts, too, half a dozen gazelles 
were noticed, a couple of jackals, a big bustard, and 
a lot of small white and coloured birds that we could 
not identify. A mountain chain, which is crossed at 
k.190 at an elevation of about 2,700 feet, separates 
the plain of Lassarat from that of Oouarouf, and as 
the railway threads its way through the hills and 
along their precipitous sides, the scenery is quite 
grand in places. Across the plain of Oouarouf kilo- 
metre succeeds kilometre with the same dead level 
country all round ; the rocks have disappeared, and 
the sandy ground, covered with daremo grass and 
a tufty, scrubby growth, stretches away into the 
distance. Thousands of sheep and goats with large 
herds of catde were grazing there, and, were it 
not for the presence of scores of camels amongst 
them, one could readily imagine oneself back again 
on the South African karoo. For some reason best 
known to the canine mind, Bess, one of our " lion " 
hounds, chose that time to try to commit suicide 
by jumping out of the window. Ogilvy, however, 
caught her by the hind-quarters, and hauled her back 
again, very short of breath and shame -faced, but 
otherwise none the worse. 

Over Oouarouf the line crosses the Rivers Mello, 
Bellakore, and Arraoua. After k.240 the way rises 
again, and the dwarfed and stunted mimosae are 
replaced by trees of a larger size until the country 
becomes quite thickly wooded. A fringe of pine and 



22 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

other trees follows the serpentine course of a deep 
river bed near k. 263, and later on, so far as one 
could see through the rapidly gathering darkness, 
mimosae of large timber formed the majority of the 
trees. Shortly after 7 p.m. we arrived at the end of 
our railway journey and pulled up at Dire Daouw, 
k. 308, having performed the journey from Djibouti 
in thirteen hours. We proceeded to M. Michael 
Michaelidis's locando, and made it our head-quarters 
for the night. 



CHAPTER II 



CHAPTER II 

Dire Daouw — Fleas and bugs — March to Harrar — Camp at Adele 
— American and Manchester goods — Olive oil — Arrival at Harrar 
— Plans — Colonel Rochfort's Staff — Call on Ras Makunnan — 
Dinner with the Ras — Mr. Gerolimato — The King's birthday — 
The Ras's powers — Harrar — Natives — Customs — Women — 
Mutilation of enemies — The streets — Refuse lying about — Houses 
— The hospital — Leper hospital: the staff, administration, and 
treatment — ^The fathers' impressions, ideas, and superstitions — 
"Snakes" 

npHE railway and customs officials were off duty 
on Sunday, October 25th, so our departure for 
Harrar had to be postponed till the 26th. 

Dire Daouw is about 3,300 feet above sea level, 
and, although it is excessively hot by day (with flies 
innumerable), it is quite cool at night, and the air 
has a bracing feel in it. Everywhere over the wide 
prospect the sandy soil is covered with mimosa bush, 
amongst which the numerous native huts appear like 
tiny craft upon a broken sea. 

M. Michael Michaelidis's locando is made of boards, 
in the crannies between which large families of bugs 
and fleas have taken up their habitation, and from 
which they freely issue to extend to the visitor, without 
any formality, a very devoted and particular attention. 

25 



26 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

The locando is built on a concrete foundation, and 
there arc tents and wooden outhouses to accommo- 
date extra visitors if required. At the back is a 
" tahl " or hut for stabling mules, and the whole is 
enclosed in a zareba of thorn bush, except along the 
roadside. There is a brick-built one-storey hotel 
near the station, as well as sundry Greek restaurants, 
where, apparently, drinks only are obtainable. The 
railway at Dire Daouw employs thirty Europeans, and 
they appear to be well housed. Two good private 
vegetable gardens were noticed, containing potatoes, 
cabbages, lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, beans, 
peas, silk vegetable plant, and a few prickly pears. 

There are some good roads in Dire Daouw, varying 
from fifteen to thirty feet in width, and some of them 
have side paths which are planted with young palm 
trees. The place is abundantly supplied with water 
from two natural springs, over one of which the 
French have erected a small masonry pyramid with 
four taps from which the water is continually running, 
the overflow filling two troughs for cattle and mules. 
The second spring fills two concrete reservoirs, each 
measuring about seventeen by five metres, and said 
to be eight metres in depth, and covered in by a 
double, sloping, wooden roof, the overflow being 
used for domestic purposes. 

It is thirty miles from Dire Daouw to Harrar, and 
we marched sixteen miles on the 26th, halting for the 
night at Adele. We were up at 5 a.m., and got the 
baggage cleared, loaded on to thirty-four camels, and 



MARCH TO HARRAR 27 

started off at 10.30. Wc ourselves followed on 
mules, at 1.30 p.m., along a well-made road, partly 
macadamised in places, but interrupted here and 
there by river-beds not yet bridged. The way soon 
begins to climb the mountain pass, and there two of 
us broke off from the main road and followed a steep,* 
broken bridle-path amongst the boulders and bush. 
After climbing up 1,500 feet or more we again struck 
the main road, which at that point is cut out of the 
steep mountain-side, the rocks rising precipitously 
on the one side and presenting on the other, in some 
places, a sheer fall of many hundred feet. The road 
in that part is not metalled, and at present is unsuited 
for heavy traffic ; in two places there had been con- 
siderable wash-aways by mountain torrents. The 
rock is gneiss or disintegrating granite, and the soil 
is rich and deep, varying in colour from a greyish- 
red to a purplish-black ; in some of the ravines it 
appeared to extend from twenty to thirty feet below 
the surface. The summit of the pass, where the 
made road ends, marks the commencement of a most 
luxuriant vegetation — pine trees are plentiful, euphor- 
bia cacti abound everywhere, fine green grass and 
shrubs clothe the mountain-side, and here and there 
we caught glimpses of stretches of dhoura shami.^ 

We did not come across any water, but in two places 
there were women carrying empty gourds and water- 
skins, which, from their size, would probably not 
have to be carried far when filled. Peacock-blue 
^ Millet or jowari. 



28 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

starlings, hornbills, and hosts of different small birds 
were seen as we went along, and their plumage for 
the most part was rich and iridescent like shot silk. 

Adele was reached at 6 p.m., and we halted near 
a lake, about one and a half miles long and of about 
the same width, which abounded with coot, geese, 
duck, teal, big and little grebe, dabchicks, and many 
other birds. Here we found a couple of tents, which 
Mr. J. Gerolimato, H.B.M. Vice-Consul at Harrar, 
had sent for our use. The night was bitterly cold 
and there was quite one-sixth of an inch of ice out- 
side the tents at five o'clock the next morning. 

From Adclc the road crosses a marshy ground and 
runs beside Harrar Mayar, a lake similar to that of 
Adele and equally full of wild birds. Near Harrar 
Mayar we joined the road from Harrar to Adis 
Ababa, and encountered hundreds of natives, both 
men and women, laden with faggots, flasks, gourds, 
reeds, deeshas^ of milk, and other produce. We also 
met at least twenty camel convoys laden with bales of 
American cloth, ironmongery, and other merchandise 
going towards Adis Ababa. 

Touching American goods, I tried to ascertain 
during our stay in Harrar why so much American 
sheeting and relatively so little Manchester was on 
the market.* American grey sheeting — which, being 

^ A deesha is a milk-vessel. See note on p. 99. 

^ The customs duty on goods entering Harrar is from 8 to 10 per 
cent, with the exception of articles of general use, on which we were 
told less was paid. 



OLIVE OIL 29 

unbleached, is, of course, grey and not white, as 
commonly described — is, I was informed, cheaper 
and stronger than the Manchester and does not pos- 
sess the same unpleasant smell when wet. The 
American sheeting was said to wash whiter than the 
Manchester, and, moreover, it bears the "Camel" 
brand, which familiar sign goes a long way with the 
conservative native. The Manchester bleached sheet- 
ings, however, seem to be in larger demand than the 
American bleached, and, in spite of the alleged prefer- 
ence of the natives for the " Camel " brand, I saw 
American sheeting stamped " Reedy River " and bear- 
ing a fish brand, largely used in the construction of 
Abyssinian tents, and it is certain that comparatively 
few of the natives are familiar with fish. Talking of 
cotton, although it has nothing to do with this 
narrative, reminds me of the enormous export of 
cotton seed that takes place from Egypt to England 
and that a lot of it has subsequently an interesting 
history. The seed is crushed in England and the oil 
extracted, the remains of the seed being made up 
into various kinds of cattle cake. The extracted oil 
is re-exported to Italy and stored in vats or casks 
in which olive oil has previously stood. Having no 
flavour of its own, the cotton oil rapidly acquires 
the aroma of the olive oil, and is then re-imported 
into England as " pure and unadulterated " olive oil. 
Our party was met some distance outside Harrar 
by Mr. Gerolimato, who conducted us to his residence, 
the Vice - Consulate, and entertained us to lunch. 



30 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

There too we were warmly received by our com- 
manding officer, Colonel H. N. Rochfort, c.b., r.h.a. 

We arrived at Harrar at 12.45 P-"^* ^^^ towards 
evening rode to our camping ground some two and 
a half miles to the east of the town. We remained 
there until November 20th, employed in organising 
and arranging various matters connected with the 
forthcoming expedition, and it is not necessary in 
this place to pursue the chronological order of narra- 
tion. The general idea of the military operations 
at that time was that the Abyssinian army should 
collect at Jigjiga and march to Gerlogubi, so as to 
close the south-western parts of Somaliland against 
the Mullah and prevent his using the different wells 
in that district, or breaking away in that direction. 
In sanguine moments we hoped that he would find 
himself compelled to try to break through our force, 
but knowing the sensible methods of his " madness " 
such a hope never rose to the level of an expectation. 

It may be convenient for future reference to give 
the names of the officers forming the British section 
of the staff. At that time there were in camp outside 
Harrar : — 

Colonel A. N. Rochfort, c.b., r.h.a., in command, 
J. L. Baird, Esq., Diplomatic Service, Captain A. A. 
Duff, 3rd Gordon Highlanders, Captain (now Major) 
H. N. Dunn, r.a.m.c. Lieutenant D. Ogilvy, r.e., 
and myself. Subsequently the camp was joined by 
Major H. M. Alone, West Indian Regiment, and at a 
later time during the march by Lieutenant I. St. C. 




THE ENTRANCE TO RAS MAKUNNANS PALACE. 



Page 31. 




SOMAU WOMEN POUNDING COFKKK BKRRIES TO REMOVE THE HUSKS. 




SOMAW WOMEN GRINDING CORN. 



Page 37. 



CALL ON RAS MAKUNNAN 31 

Rose, King's Royal Rifles, Lieutenant G. Ramsay 
Fairfax, late R.N., and Assistant Surgeon W. A. M. 
Wakeman, Indian Medical Service. Capitano Carlo 
Citcrni, the Italian Attach^ to the Abyssinian army, 
accompanied us, and there were two British sergeants, 
F. Tubb, of the Hampshire Regiment, and R. Shep- 
herd, of the Tower Hamlets Volunteers, attached to 
the staflF. 

It was not, however, until February 2nd, 1904, 
with the Abyssinians at Gorahai, that our whole 
party was in camp together at the same time. 

Our camp near Harrar consisted of two zarebaed 
enclosures — one for Colonel Rochfort and his stafi^, 
and one for the syces and animals. The Somalis are 
capital hands at pitching tents when they like, and can 
cut and make a zareba in no time. The camp was 
abundantly supplied with sparkling, cool, and ap- 
parently pure water from a natural spring in the waddy 
(valley) about 300 yards away. An aqueduct from 
the same spring conveyed water to the neighbouring 
gardens and banana, dhoura, and coflFee plantations. 

The day after our arrival in camp we accompanied 
Colonel Rochfort to the Vice-Consul's, drank coflFee, 
and there awaited His Highness Ras Makunnan's 
pleasure. After a time word was sent to us that His 
Highness was ready to receive us. We were received 
at his house, a building situated near the centre of 
the town and not far from his palace, which, latter, 
is not a favourite and is seldom occupied by the Ras. 

On arrival we were conducted across a small court- 



32 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

yard, up a stone staircase into a thickly-walled room. 
The room had three doors, and there were two 
windows at one end and a third at the side. The 
walls of the room were quite bare, except for a 
kitchen clock which was surmounted by a Japanese 
fan and fixed on the wall near the entrance door. 
The floor was carpeted with four Turkey carpets. In 
the centre of the room, with three chairs on cither 
side of it, was a small wooden table covered with a 
white linen tablecloth, while at the end, between the 
windows, were two pillows separated by a red cushion 
on which the Ras sat during the interview. An ordi- 
nary brass lamp, hanging from the middle of the 
ceiling, completed the furniture of the apartment. 

The Ras received us at the door, advancing to meet 
us as we entered, and touching our hands. Mr. 
Gerolimato and a native interpreter accompanied us. 
Whilst we severally occupied chairs, the Ras sat tailor- 
fashion on the cushion. He spoke with much suavity 
of manner and in a subdued tone through Mr. 
Gerolimato and the interpreter, emphasising what he 
said by a graceful movement of his left hand, upon 
which, when he was not speaking, he rested his chin. 
Arrangements for the Expedition were sketchily dis- 
cussed and planned, compliments were exchanged and 
healths were drunk in Tej.^ On our departure the 
Ras touched hands, as on arrival. 

On November 2nd the Ras sent the Colonel a 

^ Tej is a fermented drink made from honey and water to which the 
leaves of the gesho plant are added as a flavouring (chap. x. p. 204). 



DINNER WITH THE RAS 33 

present of a large jar of Tej, and invited us to break- 
fast with him the following noon. In accordance with 
these commands we assembled the next morning at 
the Vice-Consul's and, accompanied by him, proceeded 
to the breakfast. We were received in the same room 
and in the same manner as on the former occasion, the 
only difference being that after our reception the Ras 
sat with us at the table. He was dressed in a white 
cotton mantle over the usual white cotton underwear, 
and he wore black patent leather shoes and black socks. 
Suspended by a ring from his neck in front was an 
Abyssinian gold chain, and the British coronation 
medal hung from his left breast. His manner is uni- 
formly graceful and calm, and he thoroughly enjoys a 
joke. The conversation, as before, was conducted 
through Mr. Gerolimato, who translated what the 
Colonel or others of us said into Arabic, addressing 
himself to the Ras's interpreter who rendered it to 
the Ras in Amharic, and then back again in the reverse 
order. 

From the reception room we passed into an adjoin- 
ing dining room, the walls of which were bare, except 
that on one of them was daubed the representation of 
a lion. The table was set with three bulks (decanters) 
of Tej and one of Araki,^ three flower vases of Swiss 
coloured glass, two of which contained various coloured 
paper flowers, one of them having a variegated wobbly 
bird perched over the flowers, while the third held a 

^ Araki is distilled Tej, to which oil of aniseed is added (chap. 
X. p. 205).. 
D 



34 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

bouquet of real marigolds. There were three wine 
glasses, one tumbler, and the usual knives an4 forks 
allotted to each place. The G)lonel was put at the 
head of the table, and the Ras, with the interpreter 
behind him, sat on his right hand. About twelve 
covers h la fran false were served, and they challenged 
comparison. Gerolimato, who had a magnificent 
appetite, went through them all, and was closely 
followed by Ogilvy. In addition to the ordinary 
European bread we were given tefF, or injerra, a kind 
of sour brown bread made in large flat cakes, light and 
aerated. Tej was plied freely, and the breakfast was 
first-rate from start to finish. Toasts in dry champagne 
followed ; the Ras drank to our success, and promised 
us his help, and the Colonel in reply drank to the 
health and long life of the Ras and thanked him for 
his kindness and for his promise of co-operation in 
the field. Araki, as a liqueur, and coflFee, were then 
served, and shortly afterwards we adjourned to the 
reception room, where the Ras's son, a refined and 
intelligent little fellow of about eleven years of age, 
joined us for a short time. 

Another celebration took place during our stay in 
Harrar, namely, on the King's birthday, November 
9th. Our only regret was that the Colonel and DuflF 
were no longer with us, having previously left for 

Jigjiga- 

The celebration took the form of a reception at the 
British Vice-Consul's — our kindly host appearing in 
full dress and looking worthily vice-regal. We 



THE KING*S BIRTHDAY 35 

arrived at 9.30 a.m., and immediately afterwards 
seven Indian merchants arrived. Champagne glasses 
were filled and the King's health was drunk. Very 
soon afterwards Ras Makunnan's approach was an- 
nounced, and the Indian merchants, headed by the 
representatives of Messrs. Goolamally, Mohamedaly 
and Company, withdrew, and the rest of us descended 
with the Vice-Consul from his reception room on 
the first floor to the door of the courtyard to meet 
the Ras on his entrance, saluting him and his chiefs 
in turn, and receiving their courteous bows and 
handshakes. Ras Makunnan, who was mounted on 
a mule, dismounted at the courtyard gate and left 
his retinue and quite a hundred armed Abyssinians 
outside. The Vice- Consul, the Ras, his six Chiefs 
and interpreter, followed by Baird, Dunn, Ogilvy 
and myself, then ascended the steps to the recep- 
tion room. The Chiefs were dressed in black 
embroidered mantles with white and beautifully soft 
homespun underwear, and were all barefooted. A 
seventh chief arrived almost immediately after- 
wards, and champagne and sweet biscuits were 
then served to each of us. The Ras rose from 
his seat beside the Vice -Consul, and this was the 
signal for all tb rise, while he proposed "King 
Edward VII and success to the Expedition." The 
Vice-Consul replied through the interpreter, pro- 
posing the Emperor Menelik's health and after that 
the Ras*s. These toasts were drunk in quick succes- 
sion, and were followed by conversation and chatter. 



36 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

The commander-in-chief of the Abyssinian Expedi- 
tionary Force, Fituarari Gabri with his A.D.C., Balam- 
baras Assegud, and the commander of the rearguard, 
were amongst those present. 

After the Ras and his suite had departed, the 
French Consul and the Italian Consul, wit^ Capitano 
Citerni and Signor Pastacaldi, arrived, and M. Gero- 
limato entertained the ten of us to an excellent break- 
fast, at which his plum pudding was second to none. 

In a later chapter something will be said concern- 
ing the administration of the law in Abyssinia, but 
we may remark in passing that Ras Makunnan has 
plenary powers for Menelik (with the exception of 
capital punishment) in Harrar and the Harrar Pro- 
vince, and so far as we could learn then or after- 
wards, he exercises his powers with singular equity, 
and his judgments seem everywhere to command 
respect. The amount of crime is small, but there 
are reasons for this, as we shall see hereafter, and 
it is to be remembered that by crime we mean crime 
as it is according to the Abyssinian code. During 
the twenty-four days of our residence near Harrar 
we were a great deal in and about the town, and, 
although it swarms with inhabitants^ I never saw a 
fight or a disturbance of any sort, or even a case of 
drunkenness. 

, Harrar is a walled town and has five gates, which 
are opened at 6 a.m. and locked at 6 p.m. Each gate 
is placed in charge of an armed guard, and is sur- 
mounted by a flagstaflF topped with a cross. 



NATIVES 37 

Inside the walls, it is a rookery ; and the dirt 
defies description. Its thirty or forty thousand in- 
habitants, cooped up within, are truly thick upon the 
ground ; the streets are chock-a-block with them, idle 
and industrious — the women particularly being the 
industrious — young and old, and they all jabber 
together. Here and there you come across a pictur- 
esque group of potters, a woman grinding coffee or 
com, a man weaving shammas, and so on. Alto- 
gether, it is a noisy, dirty, characteristically Eastern 
scene. 

The natives of Harrar and the Harrar Province 
are made up of Abyssinians (Habshis, as they are 
called), Harraris, Gallas, and various types of Somalis. 
There is also a good number of Indians who take the 
place of the " Sparrow " Greek of other places. In 
Harrar itself the blend known as the Harraris pre- 
dominates in point of numbers. All Abyssinians go 
about armed, but the Gallas and the Somalis in 
Harrar itself are not allowed to be armed, although 
in the country districts they may carry spears. 

In 1887 Menelik, then King of Shoa, after the 
massacre of the Italian scientific expedition near 
Gildessa, conquered Harrar and Harrar Province and 
subdued the semi-independent Gallas, who were then 
the ruling race in the country to the south and 
south-west of Harrar. The Gallas at the present 
time are the chief field and garden workers, in 
common with the Abyssinians they appear to have 
been derived from a blending of the Hahiitic invaders 



38 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

of the country with the race of Aryans who had 
previously been its possessors. The Somali comes of 
the grafting of a Semitic element upon this stock, 
and in their extension the Somalis have progressively 
pushed the Gallas more and more northwards and to 
the north-west. 

One of the first things that strike the European 
visitor is the head-shaving custom of the Somalis. 
They go about with the head and the nape of the 
neck exposed to the rays of the tropical sun, and are 
apparently none the worse for it. It is eminently 
an advantage from the point of view of cleanliness. 
The rest of the body is clothed in the usual tobe or 
shamma, a double -width cotton sheet of about 
fifteen feet long. 

The married Somali women wear their hair in nets 
as a sign of the married state, whilst the Abyssinian 
women have it plastered with ghee and plaited into 
various furrows and ridges of an ornamental character 
running from the front of the head to the back. 
Instead of a system of old-age pensions for women, 
they are employed as beasts of burden to carry loads 
of faggots and such-like. The older and. the uglier 
they are, apparently the bigger the load, as big some- 
times, or even bigger than a donkey-load. I re- 
member once, in Egypt, having seen a woman and a 
camel harnessed to a plough. That was a combination 
full enough of significance, but it was hardly so fan- 
tastic as one other which I saw, namely that of a 
camel and a pig harnessed together. Child-bearing 



THE STREETS 39 

and hard work are the things expected of the women 
in Somaliland as in most other Eastern countries. 

Although the Gallas are for many reasons accounted 
a higher race than the Somalis, it is in some respects 
difficult to imagine their being superior to anybody. 
In particular they retain the practice of carrying out 
the most horrible mutilations upon their fallen 
enemies. On November 13th in the presence of 
Basha-Balina, our Abyssinian Attach^, and of Johannes 
Fiesah, our interpreter, I had the opportunity of 
carefully examining one of the victims of their 
barbarity. The man, Adam Bollali, a native of Farso, 
was apparently of about thirty years of age and, as 
far as he appeared able to judge of the lapse of time, 
the fight after which his mutilation took place 
occurred ten or twelve years ago, and he thought that 
it was quite a year before his wounds healed. 

Hockey just outside the eastern gate is a great 
game with the younger Harraris. There appear to 
be no off-side and no limit as to numbers, but the 
sides are fairly evenly divided, and the play is good. 
They hit fair and square, and play barefooted. 

Ogilvy compared the streets of Harrar to Scotch 
burns run dry, and a better description could hardly 
be given. The main street is from six to seven feet 
broad, rugged, with drops of about one and a half feet 
at every ten or fifteen yards, and with boulders great 
and small strewn everywhere. Because of the steep- 
ness of many of the streets, and the unsuspected 
drops that await the traveller, the mule saddles in 



40 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

common use are fitted with a breastplate and crupper 
to prevent their sliding backwards over the tail, or 
forwards over the neck. The minor streets and pas- 
sages may best be spoken of as " places," and every 
place, passage, or street is crammed with natives. 
There is a peculiar raven ^ in Harrar with a white 
collar behind a white poll, while asphogel, or vultures, 
and scavenger birds are numerous enough, as well they 
may be. Some of the dirt in the streets is collected 
by women in open baskets, and tipped just outside the 
walls, but beyond this fraction of prophylaxis there is 
no such thing as sanitation. In some of the culs-de-sac 
in the heart of the town, and even in the highways, 
fresh horns, heads, bones, and entrails of animals lie 
about, making the place filthy beyond description. The 
pariah dogs eat what they can, and the rest is left to 
the merciful dealings of a tropical sun — fortunately, 
a vigorous, germ-destroying sun which can well-nigh 
convert the smell of a pole-cat into the aroma of a 
nosegay — and, strange to say, malodorous as the 
place is, I do not remember to have been distinctly 
conscious at any time of the peculiar foetid odour of 
decaying animal matter. 

As illustrating the power of this tropical sun, 
one may recall a time when cholera broke out in 
the Soudan in 1896, and spread with great rapidity 
whilst the troops remained near the river-bank 
on the damp, warm, organically impregnated soil, 
often shaded by palm trees. But when the men 

^ Cor. vulture. Somalilanii Pricis^ p. 130. 




STREET IN HARRAR. 




HARRAR MARKET. 



Page 40W 




GAIXA GIRLS SELLING GHICE, HARRAR. 




AT THE I.EPER HOSPITAL, HARRAR. 



Page 44* 



THE HOSPITAL 41 

were moved a litde distance into the desert, and 
the drying actinic rays of the sun had full play, 
the disease very quickly died out. 

Almost all the houses in Harxar are made of mud, 
and of the roughest undressed stones, mostly having 
holes for windows, and no chimney or any other 
means of ventilation, except the door. The window- 
hole apparently serves both as a window and smoke 
exit. Some houses are plastered with mud, and a 
few of them are whitewashed. The roofs are flat, and 
are nearly all made of sticks and twigs plastered with 
mud. There are a few typical native huts within the 
town, either of the cylindrical, beehive, or cone- 
shaped types, with stick-and-mud walls and peg-top 
roofs of sticks or thatch. A few houses are solidly 
and well built after the European pattern, notably 
those of the British, French, and Italian Consuls. 
Ras Makunnan's house and palace are particularly 
well built, the latter being the best building in the 
town. The Abyssinian church, built of stone and 
plaster, with a roof made of old kerosene tins, 
consists, as is usual in Abyssinian churches, of two 
concentric circular walls, one eight feet inside the 
other. On the occasion of our visit we were not 
allowed to penetrate within the inner wall, but we 
caught sight of a painted representation of an altar. 

Dunn and I, accompanied by Mr. Gerolimato, 
visited the Harrar hospital on October 29th. It 
is maintained solely at Ras Makunnan's expense, and 
is built of stone. It consists of six wards on the 



42 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

ground floor facing the front, and three double wards 
on the first floor facing the back. The floors are con- 
crete, and the walls are whitewashed on the inside. 
The ordinary spring, wire, and hair mattresses, sheets, 
blankets, iron bedsteads and bedside tables are in 
use. The latrines and urinals are in a separate out- 
building at the back, with a modified cesspool arrange- 
ment. In front there is a flower garden ; on the left 
side is the dispensary ; on the right are the operating 
theatre and offices, while the cookhouse is at the back 
to the left. Utensils and drugs are supplied to the 
patients, but with the exception of milk they find 
their own food ; and laundry work is done outside. 
A French Guadeloupe medical man administers the 
whole establishment. 

There are two prisons in Harrar, but not having 
obtained a proper permit I was not allowed to go 
over them. The prisoners I saw, with the exception 
of one who had shackles on both his feet, were fettered 
in twos by their adjacent ankles, and their only exer- 
cise, it was said, was to be marched to an enclosure 
close by and back again. As far as one could make 
out, the majority of them were murderers. The 
place was kept clean, as Eastern prisons go, and the 
prisoners were well looked after. 

The fathers at the French leper hospital were 
our kindly hosts on three occasions, and we had a 
visit from them at our camp. They established 
the hospital nearly three years ago, and have built 
nearly all of it themselves. It consists of forty-nine 



LEPER HOSPITAL 43 

huts and one large main building with stone-and- 
plaster walls and a thatched roof. The stafF con- 
sists of: — 

The Rev. Fire Marie Bernard^ k^. . ^ 

Missionaires Capu- 



The Rev. Fire Bernardin 
E. H. Frfere Thiotinna 
E. H. Mire Gervasie 
SoBur Gertrude 
ScBur Zoe 



chins des Gallas. 
-Religieuses fran9aises. 



The fathers told us that there were about eight 
thousand lepers in Abyssinia ; the anaesthetic variety, 
they said, being more common than the tuberculated. 
Their patients are mostly Gallas, and there were at 
that time sixty cases under treatment. Segregation is 
not enforced anywhere in Abyssinia and leprous 
patients mix more or less indiscriminately with the 
healthy, and their admission to the hospital is quite 
voluntary ; they come and go as they please, but as 
a rule they remain under treatment until their con- 
dition and appearance have undergone considerable 
improvement. 

The fathers appeared to have no doubt as to the 
contagiousness of leprosy. Husband and wife, they 
said, certainly transmitted it to one another, and 
union between two leprous patients produced a 
doubly severe form of the disease. They were very 
uncertain as to its hereditary transmission. Healthy 
parents, they said, sometimes had leprous children, 
and leprous parents, healthy children. Leprosy some- 



44 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

times developed early in infancy, but in these cases 
they felt sure that contagion was commonly present. 
Altogether they considered the contagiousness of the 
disease was beyond doubt. But what they said about 
its hereditary transmission, beyond perhaps establish- 
ing a certain special inherited degree of vulnerability, 
did not appear to make it very different from the 
hereditary transmission of a predisposition to the 
acquirement of false teeth, eyeglasses, or wooden legs. 

The fathers did not believe in the alleged fish 
causation of leprosy. As a matter of fact, the Abys- 
sinians, the Gallas, and the Somalis rarely eat fish, 
and for the sufficient reason that during a great part 
of the year many of the rivers do not contain water, 
much less fish. Round about Harrar, for example, 
practically all the water from the river beds is diverted 
for irrigation purposes. A little rises up here and 
there, soon to disappear again by soakage through the 
sand. There is apparently an impervious, rocky 
stratum at no great distance below the surface of 
nearly all these sandy river beds, for, by scraping and 
digging for, perhaps, only a foot or two, water will 
soon collect in the hole and form a little pool, and it 
is commonly collected in this manner by the natives. 

Chaulmoogra oil is mostly used by the fathers in 
the treatment of leprosy, and the sores had simple 
dressings applied to them. They were then ex- 
perimenting with some new remedy, but professed 
that they were not at liberty to disclose the nature 
of it. 



SUPERSTITIONS 45 

The hospital management and conduct, and the 
treatment of the patients, are most excellent. The 
only objection which could be made was that the 
hospital was too near the town of Harrar. Un- 
fortunately, many patients from distant parts, when 
their health and appearance have improved by treat- 
ment in the hospital, go out into the town and mix 
with the Harraris, and so tend to multiply the number 
of cases within the walls. 

As an example of the up-to-date equipment pos- 
sessed by the institution, on the occasion of our third 
visit on November 12th, the Rev. Pfere Marie 
Bernard gave us an exhibition of his magic lantern 
slides, having had a room darkened for the occasion. 
He took us into his developing room and showed us 
his photographic apparatus, which was most elaborate 
and complete. Indeed, it was more in advance of the 
times than any other set of apparatus I have seen. 
He threw upon the screen some first-rate pictures 
taken during an expedition into distant parts of the 
country, speaking likenesses of its inhabitants and 
their customs, and ended by displaying a portrait 
of three of us who had visited the hospital five days 
previously. 

To this exhibition of their skill, the fathers' simple, 
amazing credulity — to us, superstition — formed a 
strange contrast. On our visit on November 7th 
they had related to us stories of almost fabulous 
monsters — snakes of prodigious appearance and pro- 
portions — in the existence of which they firmly 



46 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

believed. They said that they had even visited the 
cave in which these monsters dwelt ; that it was in 
the hills not far away, and that therein they had found 
human skulls and the skulls and bones of many other 
animals, chiefly conies (hyrax). These snakes, they 
reported, are of immense length and of prodigious 
girth, with one or two horns on their heads, and 
on their foreheads a powerful electric searchlight. 
These dazzling lights, the fathers said, they them- 
selves had seen from the hospital. The snakes scour 
the hillside when there is no moon. The natives 
believe in their existence, and, rather than interfere 
with them, seek to propitiate them by leaving them 
alone. Such is the account we received. None of us, 
I fear, were possessed of a faith simple enough to 
credit the existence of the reptiles. To us they 
constituted an airy nothing — a flame of hncy of the 
superstitious. Perhaps this fiery-headed demon is 
the terrestrial representative of the famous sea- 
serpent. 

In connection with this I should relate that on 
November 8th fifty fresh mules arrived in camp, and 
about 7 p.m. stampeded and broke out of the zareba. 
With the aid of four candle lamps, we managed 
to recover them. We wondered, then, whether the 
natives had seen four fiery-headed monsters creeping 
in and out amongst the trees and spreading themselves 
over the face of the land ; and on our visit to the 
hospital on the I2th, we were not altogether sur- 
prised when the fathers volunteered the statement that 



"SNAKES'* 47 

since our last visit they had seen the snakes again. 
On comparing notes as to where and when, we were 
convinced that on that occasion, at any rate, our lamp- 
bearers rounding up mules had been transmuted into 
the fiery demons whose kingdom is the moonless 
night. 



CHAPTER III 



CHAPTER III 

Coimtry round Harrar — Temperature — Produce — Coffee — Cattle — 
Caravans and mules — Birds — Insects — The stink ant — Camp out- 
side Harrar — Shooting — Colonel Rochfort leaves for Jigjiga — 
Arrival of Major Alone — Difficulties of preparing the Expedition 
— March to Feyambiro — Night in a native hut — The camp at 
Feyambiro— Occupations — The camel — i^ethod of loading and 
names of mats, etc. — The camel's gait 

TN many respects Harrar has a fine natural position. 
It is built on a limestone eminence some 6,000 feet 
above sea level ; the nearest of the neighbouring hills 
are a mile or so distant to the south and west, and 
the ground opens out all round. Fields of bananas, 
coffee, and dhoura shami,^ ripening now to harvest, 
stretch away to right and lc*t between the avenues 
of euphorbia and mimosa that mark the situation 
of ravines or mountain river beds. Thousands of 
humped and ordinary cattle, sheep, mules, donkeys, 
and camels, are scattered over the untilled ground. 
Everywhere is a waving mass of green of all shades, 
splashed here and there with vivid colours — with all 
the colours of the rainbow, in fact, except blue, 

^ Dhoura shami is millet, and is to be distinguished from dhoura 
Hindi (Indian com, or mealies). It was ripening to harvest at the end 
of October. 

5» 



52 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

indigo, and violet — and presenting an appearance like 
that of the autumnal Virginian creeper. On coming 
closer, these splashes of colour are seen to be the 
tassels or bats of a variety of mimosa, and they hang 
like earrings from the terminal branches, strikingly 
resembling a swarm of butterflies alighting on the 
twigs. These ripening legumes of the mimosae occur 
in crops together, and pass in colour from green 
to yellow and from orange to red. The country 
around Harrar is very densely populated, and every- 
where there are large numbers of native huts. 

From the south and west of the town, a mile or 
more distant, are the following hills, naming them 
from south to west: Gindayla, Hakin, Tinkatabar, 
and Warwari, whilst in the distance to the north- 
west, thirty-five miles or so away, is a large table 
mountain, Kondudo. 

Near the base of Gebel Hakin,^ Ras Makun- 
nan has a country house, and close beside it is an 
Abyssinian church. Up the mountain, about 150 
feet higher than the Ras's house, is a large spring, 
and a partly natural and partly ancient artificial reser- 
voir. There is not, I believe, any conduit from the 
reservoir to the Ras's house. There are neither 
springs nor wells in Harrar, but adjacent to the gates 
of the town are natural springs, yielding a plentiful 
supply. 

During the time we were in Harrar it was hot 
during the day — the shade temperature at noon 
^ Gebel, a roountain. 




WATliR CARRIKRS. H.VRRAR. 



r;i:^o .S3. 








•J 



COUNTRY ROUND HARRAR 53 

varying from 84** to loo** — nevertheless, we felt it 
oppressively hot only on one day, when it was cloudy. 
Unfortunately I did not possess a maximum and 
minimum thermometer, so that I obtained no night 
record of the lowest temperature. After sunset it 
quickly became chilly, and dining in the open, as we 
did, it was necessary to wear an overcoat or a sweater. 
On various occasions I took the temperature from 
2.15 a.m. to 5 a.m., and it varied from 51** to 62**. 
The Afreets or "sand devils" were rather trouble- 
some at times, but whilst in the neighbourhood of 
Harrar we never saw any equal to those of South 
Africa or the Soudan. 

The district around Harrar is absolutely impassable, 
except for pack transport. The road from Harrar to 
Adis Ababa is a rough, fairly open track from what 
we saw of it, but the best of the other roads are 
broken, rocky, and commonly steep paths — ^gullies, 
doubtless, during the rainy season — and overhung in 
many places with luxuriant vegetation. From the 
site of our camp the path to the town drops about 
100 feet, then crosses two small rivulets, and in the 
end climbs 400 feet or so up a twisted ladder-like 
ascent to the eastern gate. 

The slopes and valleys round Harrar, as has been 
intimated, are under excellent cultivation. The water 
from the river beds is led into the fields and gardens 
by irrigation channels. Dhoura shami, bananas and 
coffee are the chief crops, but vines (fruiting twice 
a year), cotton, castor-oil plants, tobacco, chillies. 



54 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

pepper and onions are freely grown. The fruit, 
however, is of a poor quality. A few sycamores 
and limes are interspersed amongst the all-pervading 
prickly acacias or mimosse. Honey is one of the 
staple foods of the natives, and it is collected in 
cylindrical baskets, about two feet by six inches in 
diameter, which are hung horizontally from the 
branches of the wanga trees ; and in going about 
one saw large numbers of them. It was impossible 
to suppress a feeling of regret that the force of 
circumstances had formerly compelled the Egyptian 
Government to abandon the administration of the 
province. The numbers of live stock that the 
country supports, and the variety and abundance of its 
possible harvests, are so great that, with enterprising 
development during a considerable period of peace, 
it would, without doubt, be converted into a gamer 
that would be rich in store, both for its own in- 
habitants and for those of other lands. 

A plant which the natives call khat or jat^ grows 
freely in the Harrar district. In appearance the 
leaves are very much like those of coca or tea. The 
natives in Somaliland, as in the Soudan, gather the 
green leaves and chew and swallow them, eating as 
much as seven or eight handfuls in a day. They say 
that ^^ it quenches thirst, wards off hunger, and keeps 
them wakeful." At any rate they appear to be able 
to go for a long time on it without having anything 
else. 

1 Katha Edialii, mttunl order Celattriiuie (W. S. Feowick). 



COFFEE 55 

The common potato, according to A. W. Wylde,* 
was reintroduced into Abyssinia by the late Professor 
Schimper, and it is to be found wherever people from 
Amhara or T!gre are settled. The French fathers at 
the leper hospital told us that they introduced 
potatoes into Harrar, but the natives refused to 
touch them, being under the impression that whoever 
ate of them became barren. The natives based their 
inference on the fact that the friars who introduced 
them had no children of their own. 

Many were the times that we dropped in on Mr. 
Gerolimato, our kind friend and wise adviser, and 
sipped comfort from his inimitable brew of coffee. 
There is no coffee in the world, it seems to me, 
that excels the Abyssinian mocha or long-berry coffee. 
Being in practice a total abstainer, I have sometimes 
been tempted to think myself a judge of tea and 
coffee, and have never tasted coffee that could be 
placed in the balance against mocha. I well re- 
member the first time that I regaled myself with it, 
and how cheering, invigorating, and delicious it was. 
At Karkoj on the Blue Nile, in November, 1898, 
it was administered ad libitum^ with most beneficial 
results, to hundreds of our Soudanese troops who 
were down at the time with a somewhat malignant 
type of remittent fever. 

The long-berry coffee grows to perfection in the 
Harrar neighbourhood. Two crops are gathered each 
year, and occasionally, in favourable seasons, five 
^ Mukrn JhyutmOf p. 265. 



56 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

crops in two years. The trees are a lovely green, and 
are nursed by picking off a certain number of the 
young berries and shoots, but they do not appear to 
be regularly pruned. The unripe berries that are 
picked off are dried and eaten like the ripe ones, but 
furnish an inferior quality of coffee. The ripe berries, 
when picked, are cherry-red or brownish in colour, 
and they are laid out in a single layer on the ground 
or on the roofs of the houses for ten to twenty 
days in the sun to dry. They are then either re- 
moved from their husks by being pounded in a 
wooden mortar with a wooden pestle by the women 
folk, or are kept for six months or so in the house, 
when they become of a yellowish colour. After re- 
moval of the husk the sooner the berries are roasted 
and ground and the coffee made, the more aromatic 
and delicious the decoction is. 

The cattle, sheep, and goats around Harrar appear 
to be without numben The cattle are mostly humped, 
and arc perfectly tame, readily standing to be stroked. 
The cows are very much used for milking, and the 
clarified butter, or ghee, in common use is made from 
the surplus milk. Many of the oxen serve for 
ploughing, and the yokes in vogue are coeval with 
the cobwebs of antiquity. 

The sheep have white bodies, with black heads and 
necks, and a short, fat tail, and so numerous are they 
that in some parts of Somaliland they were estimated 
by Captain E. J. C. Swayne to number two hundred 
per head to every adult male. 



CARAVANS AND MULES 57 

In preparing a caravan from Harrar you see, and 
talk, and think, and dream of mules, just as in 
Somaliland you do of camels. The routine for the 
mules in camp is to be taken out to graze in the 
early morning, watered at midday, grazed again in the 
afternoon, and driven back to the zareba about 4.30, 
where they are tethered by a picket rope from the 
fetlock. The Abyssinian grass-cutters, who attend to 
them, bring in bundles of grass and give them to the 
mules in the evening with a feed of barley. They are 
slow movers, but are very comfortable to jog along 
with, and are as quiet as lambs and as docile as you 
might wish. How they would behave in the face of 
a steam-roller or a motor-car I do not know, but at 
first sight of a camel they jib and shy to some effect, 
though they rarely cut and run. Familiarity, however, 
in a caravan soon breeds reassurance. 

It would, I should imagine, be difficult for a mule 
to get away from the powerful curb of the Abyssinian 
bit in common use. In one case, at Jigjiga, a mule's 
tongue was nearly severed transversely by the bit, 
being held only by a few blood-vessels at the base and 
some strips of muscle fibre. It was drawn together 
by the insertion of six silk sutures, and in the course 
of two or three weeks had healed completely. A 
Harrar pack mule costs from thirty to thirty-five 
dollars, and in fairly even country will do three miles 
an hour with a load of a hundred and sixty pounds. 

The donkeys I saw were nearly all mouse or dun- 
coloured, with a black stripe extending from the tip 



58 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

of the tail to between the ears, and crossed at the 
withers by another black stripe which passes down the 
shoulders. 

All the horses, if one may say so, are ponies, 
since they are not higher than about 13.3 hands. 
They are used chiefly as riding animals. 

The country and bush about Harrar abound with all 
sorts of wild birds, and some of them are particularly 
beautiful. A few have been already mentioned, and 
many of them will crop up in our narrative, for 
they often supplied a tasty and important addition 
to our larder. The peacock-blue starling is very 
common, also another brilliantly- coloured variety 
of this bird with an orange breast. The green pigeons 
in that district have canary-coloured breasts, and are 
scarcely as large as those in the Soudan, but they 
appeared to be in greater numbers — indeed, at times, 
Ogilvy and I saw over a hundred of them together in 
a flock. They are first-rate eating, but, being very 
wild, they are not easy to get. They appear to 
feed on coflFee-berries and dhoura, although one day 
I opened the crops of four of them and found nothing 
but coflFee-berries. Speaking of pigeons, I remember 
to have seen some of them which inhabit the hills 
and temples about the Nile at Luxor alight upon the 
water exactly as if they were seagulls. The incredu- 
lity with which some of the oflicers of the North 
Staffordshire Regiment received this statement was, 
I remember, only dissipated when they themselves 
saw the birds alight on the river. 



THE STINK ANT 59 

There are living things in Abyssinia and Somaliland 
besides men and birds and beasts, — msects to wit* 
There are millions of them ; those which creep 
abound, those which hop are without number, and 
the multitude of those which fly is not sensibly 
diminished by slaughter. Even the common and 
impertinent house-fly is not put to the blush by the 
presence of rarer and more pestiferous neighbours. 
He swarms upon your face and hands, peeps into 
your eyes and into the crevices of your clothing, and 
seeks to investigate the inside of your collar with that 
self-assurance and contempt of your convenience 
which has marked him out all the world over as a 
genius amongst his kind. He also commits suicide 
in your inkpot with a disregard of life that is truly 
Oriental in its character. At times legions of insects 
attend you by day and by night from one end of 
your journey to the other. Heat and drought and 
sand and thorns are as nothing to them, and in point 
of odour the " stink ant," wherever you find him, is 
the worst pest of all. He has another name, no 
doubt, but that is the one he possesses in Somaliland. 
For atrocious foetor I have never met his equal. 
Asafoetida is attar of roses beside him. In colour 
he is black ; in size about treble that of an ordinary 
black ant ; but in point of fragrance he is a leviathan. 
Enclose one in a soluble capsule and put it down a 
drain, and I venture to say that a leak anywhere 
within a considerable radius would be revealed at 
once. Medical officers of health are welcome to this 



6o WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

suggestion gratis. Let the incredulous import one 
and be convinced. 

Nothing worse than the barking of the hyaenas 
disturbed our nights in camp outside Harrar, but 
these wily and rackety nocturnal visitors were very 
constant in their attentions, and we did not manage 
to get even with them, although one night two of 
us made a serious effort by sitting up for several 
hours over a goat by way of bait, hoping to get a 
shot at them. Somehow or other the bait did not 
" make plenty shout," as the man who had supplied it 
prophesied that it would. The natives objected to 
the presence of this goat within the zareba, and tried 
to make out that the stampede of the mules on the 
night of November 8 th was due to its presence. 

Rock rabbits or coneys abound in the Harrar 
district, and are comparatively tame. Dunn acted as 
naturalist to the expedition, and for rapidity in skin- 
ning an animal he would be hard to beat. One of his 
first traps yielded nothing fiercer than a mouse, but 
he was as happy as if it had been an otter, and had its 
skin off in a trice. On November 8th, Mr. Geroli- 
mato, Dunn, Baird and I breakfasted at 5.30, and 
ambled on our mules about ten miles to the Errer 
River for a day's outing. We caught about a dozen 
tiny, bony fish, and ate the bread of idleness. The 
way was along a rough bridle path, up and down 
mountain passes and over river beds, winding through 
the dhoura fields and coffee plantations. In shooting 
for the pot it was no uncommon thing to lose a large 



CAMP OUTSIDE HARRAR 6i 

proportion of the birds by their dropping into the 
dense mimosa thickets, where it was impossible to 
get at them ; and our dogs as retrievers were more 
keen than expert. 

On November loth Dunn, Ogilvy and I went for 
a day's shooting to Bussy Dimo, about five miles 
south-west from camp. We intended to bivouac, so 
took two spare mules with kit and enamelled iron 
crockery. A waterproof sheet, with a couple of 
blankets, a Balaclava cap, a sweater, a Jaeger sleeping 
suit, a cavalry canteen, and a water-bottle and cup 
apiece, made up our kit, and we had a common cook- 
ing-pot. The pot was packed by the cook with three 
cooked chickens, boiled rice, potatoes, and twelve 
hard-boiled eggs. The chickens were as tough as 
india-rubber, and the contents of the pot resolved 
themselves into a sort of mongrel kedgeree, of which 
fragments of chicken were the resisting portions, 
while bits of egg-shell having been evenly distributed, 
made havoc of the whole mess. For breakfast the 
next morning, however, some eggs purchased from a 
neighbouring kraal gave us a first-rate omelette, and, 
with freshly cooked partridge and quail, made up 
a delicious meal. We shot over ground broken by 
deep nullahs and pretty thickly covered with mimosa 
and dry grass. My shikari, an Abyssinian enlisted 
for the occasion, was half blind in one eye, and could 
hardly see with the other, so that I had to do my 
own retrieving. We bagged eighteen head amongst 
us, consisting of a quail, eight partridges, two diccup 



62 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

or goggle-eyed plover, three hares, and four Kirk's 
dig-dig. 

Basha Balina, who accompanied us as Abyssinian 
Attach^, joined us on November 6th, with Johannes 
Fiesah, our Abyssinian interpreter. Johannes Fiesah 
spoke Amharic, Arabic and French, but the Basha 
spoke Amharic only. The Conti MoUi, Capitano 
Citerni, and Signor Mocchi lunched with us on 
November 6th, and we had the good fortune to be 
accompanied by Capitano Citerni on our expedition. 

The British party did not long remain together 
in camp as the arrangements for the Expedition 
proceeded. Colonel Rochfort left for Jigjiga on 
November yth, and Major Alone bivouacked beyond 
Harrar on November loth, and joined us the next 
day. Accompanied by Captain Dunn, he left for 
Feyambiro on the 14th, to establish a camel depot 
at that place. Feyambiro is some thirty miles from 
Harrar in the Fafan Valley, and the Colonel decided 
to establish the camel camp at that place, as it was 
warmer and more suitable for the purpose than Jig- 
jiga. Baird and Ogilvy were left behind the rest of 
us at Harrar to join the Abyssinian forces as they 
concentrated at Babilli, and they were instructed to 
accompany them vii Farso and Dagaha Mado to 
Sesebani, where our intended line of advance and 
theirs converged.^ 

Those who are familiar with the getting together 
of an Expedition in these countries, know how the 

1 See Map. 



PREPARING THE EXPEDITION 63 

difficulties increase in a sort of geometrical pro- 
gression, and a reference to them will better be 
deferred to a later stage in our narrative. A few 
minor alterations and additions to our own personal 
stores and equipment were necessary. The tent, for 
example, had to be fitted with proper pockets and 
windows, and with a door at the back to supple- 
ment the insignificant ventilators with which it was 
originally provided. A stout wooden box was made 
to hold the Congo medicine chest, because the sun, 
playing on so good a conducting material as 
aluminium, would be liable to injure the thermo- 
meters and possibly other contents of the chest. 
Messrs. Goolanally, Mohamedaly & Co. made us 
an excellent double-candle lamp-box to hold two 
candlesticks, four globes, and twelve candles, and also 
provided us with a considerable number of stores, 
on which, thanks to the Colonel's advice, we had 
saved transport from Aden. At one time it was 
debated as to whether our allowance of flour should 
not be reduced from three-quarters to half a pound 
per day, replacing^ the quarter pound by captain 
biscuits or by some other suitable form of biscuit, 
with the idea of having a more compact and ac- 
cessible material for use on the march. It was not 
possible, however, to obtain such biscuits in Harrar, 
and we could only add fifteen pounds of wheaten 
biscuits. 

By November 20th the arrangements for the Abys- 
sinians had proceeded so for that according to the 



64 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

Colonel's instructions I struck camp outside Harrar 
and started for Feyambiro. The mess stores and kit 
were loaded on to twenty-eight donkeys and sent ofF 
at 9.30 a.m., my syce and I following on mules at 1 1 
o'clock, and our camels, carrying hospital equipment 
and stores, coming on behind. We filed along the same 
narrow path that had been taken on November 8 th 
to the Errer River, and then up and down the roughest 
and steepest mountain tracks I have ever travelled. 
The scenery is magnificent, but the road is a night- 
mare to a man on the march. The crops in the 
valleys were much riper than those on the high veldt 
or on the hillsides, showing plainly the diflFerence in 
temperature between the two situations. The paths 
in the valleys are nearly all lined with cacti, and 
everywhere were fields of dhoura, with patches of 
coflFee and bananas. The country is evidently thickly 
populated, for every now and then we came across 
great numbers of native huts. 

The laden donkeys went by a diflFerent path from 
ourselves, so that by evening we were well ahead of 
them, and shortly before dark came within a mile 
or so of Feyambiro village. I billeted myself, syce 
and mules for the night in a Somali's circular mud 
hut. There was some hesitation at first about giving 
us accommodation, but at the magic word " back- 
sheesh," everyone became a candidate for the privi- 
lege. The accompanying rough diagram shows how 
we disposed ourselves within the hut. 

I was accorded the rojral bed, or rather stall, for 



NIGHT IN A NATIVE HUT • 65 

there was no difFerence between the spaces accorded 
to persons and to animals. The fire on the hearth was 
on my left, and to the right was the door through 
which the mules had been squeezed to be placed beside 
it on the other side. In front of the fire sat Mrs. 
Somali cooking a dishful of dhoura porridge on stick 
embers, and she rekindled the fire from time to time 
by the addition of more sticks and by blowing vigor- 



Goais 




Kids 

Wall of Hut 

Mules 



family 
Place 



V 

GROUND-FLOOR PLAN OF THE SOMALI HUT 

ously through a hollow reed about three feet long. 
She was naked to the waist, and the details of her 
dress below that would not occupy much space in de- 
scription. She had an eight months old baby on her 
lap which had already had its head shaved. Be- 
yond her was the family sleeping-place, next to that 
the space for the goats, then that for the kids, whose 
neighbours, my mules, completed the domestic circle. 
The divisions, roughly speaking, radiated from the 



66 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

central pole of the hut, which supported a framework 
of sticks covered with thatch. The hut was of the 
beehive shape, and the compartments mentioned above 
were separated from one another by dried mud eleva- 
tions about a foot in height. I sat on this little mound 
and ate the hot porridge, using a spoon which I had 
with me ; and the porridge, with fresh cow's milk 
added, was excellent fare. As soon as my meal was 
finished, five children came in, and it is fair to say 
that as regards manners en famille they would give 
points to a good many Christian children. Three of 
the children were by our hostess and two by another 
wife, who lived in a second hut a few yards away — it 
being customary to allot a separate dwelling to each 
wife. On entering, each child salaamed its mother or 
stepmother^ as the case may have been, by stooping 
and taking her hand and resting it in theirs, and then 
kissing the back of it and afterwards the palm. The 
mother then raised each child's hand to the child's 
forehead and kissed the back of it as it rested there. 
The children next pressed my hand in turn, and then 
filed out to the other hut, where their supper was 
ready. The syce fortified himself from the bowl of 
porridge after I had had what I wanted, and then 
passed it on to Papa Somali, who, after helping himself 
with no sparing hand, gave it to his wife, who took 
what there was left, and at the same time fed the 
baby, alternately from the platter and from the breast. 
For the first three-quarters of an hour my eyes 
stung severely and watered profusely from the smoke 



NIGHT IN A NATIVE HUT 67 

which filled the hut ; after that time, however, the 
irritation almost suddenly ceased, and no further dis- 
comfort was experienced. Before long I lay down on 
the dried skin of an ox, which was laid on the mud 
floor, and with the saddle for a pillow was asleep in 
no time. Wylde,^ in his book, speaks of spending 
the night spearing bugs with a mimosa thorn ; per- 
sonally, I was not troubled with them, probably 
because they were baffled by my peppering my bed 
freely with Keating's powder, a supply of which one 
should always take the precaution of carrying in the 
saddle-bag. The sand-flies were a bit waspish for a 
while, but failed to keep me awake long ; in fact, 
except for about five minutes when the baby squealed 
for its early morning feed and the sand-flies disturbed 
me, I slept soundly the whole night. The interrup- 
tion referred to occurred about 2.30 a.m., when 
Mrs. Somali got up and piled fresh faggots on the 
fire whilst Mr. Somali droned a lullaby. Then the 
mother gave the baby its natural anodyne and it 
bleated gently oflf to sleep. 

We were up at six the next morning, and the syce 
was sent back to hurry up the convoy. He met the 
cook about two miles back coming on with some bread 
and cold chicken for me, the latter being thatched with 
dead ants. Perhaps the formic acid from the ants gave 
the meal a piquancy in the place of salt ; anyhow, as 
roadside fare, it was very good. Passing through the 
village of Feyambiro, we reached camp at ten o'clock, 

1 Modern Jbyssmia. 



68 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

and found it to be situated two hours' mule march 
on the Jigjiga side of the village. Large spreading 
mimosa trees provided a certain amount of shade and 
afforded a canopy beneath which we could have our 
midday meal. The tents were pitched south-south- 
east to avoid the afternoon sun. About half a mile 
away, in the dry river bed, were some marshy pools, 
out of which Dunn had been getting a couple of 
ducks nearly every morning. There were hundreds 
of guinea-fowl, partridges, and francolin about, be- 
sides several ducks, and a lot of dig-dig ; in fact the 
bush seemed to be alive with small game and birds of 
all kinds. It was an easy matter each day for one or 
other of us to go out and shoot what was required for 
the pot, but there was no occasion to kill more than 
that, as the natives will not eat birds. A Somali, 
being a Mohammedan, will not eat any part of an 
animal that has been killed by an Abyssinian, who 
is a Christian ; it must have been killed by himself 
or by another Somali ; and the reverse is the case 
with the Abyssinians. White ants swarmed all over 
the place, and stink ants favoured the neighbourhood 
with their presence. Every afternoon whilst I was 
in camp there the sky was overcast, and the heat 
was accordingly moderated. There was a small party 
in camp, so we had plenty of time for odd jobs, be- 
sides tramping after what game there was to be had. 
A sodden pair of boots, obtained by walking after 
duck amongst the pools gave one a favourable 
opportunity for doing a little cobbling, in driving 



THE CAMEL 69 

eighteen good hob nails into each sole — which nails, 
it may be said, are a very necessary part of one's 
outfit in these countries. Dunn wanted his hair 
cutting, so being possessed of a good pair of clippers, 
I obliged him in that respect, and cut it so short that, 
" saving his grace," he looked like a coot. There 
were no sick in camp except the camels, of which 
about a dozen or so had sores of various kinds that 
needed dressing twice daily. We obtained fifty 
pounds of raw cotton for the dressings, and, at 
Dunn's further suggestion, purchased ten rolls of 
American sash or gauze. The cotton was very 
useful as a swab, and the sash, like the cotton, being 
very light, would come in very useful in the event of 
our having many wounded to look after and the other 
dressings running out. 

The camel is a mulish beast — much more so than 
the mule — and obstinacy or stupidity, or both, enter 
very largely into his composition ; and we had plenty 
of opportunities for observing his characteristics 
during the time at Fafan camp. He has an ungainly 
figure at the best of times, but the contortions and 
fantastic shapes which he assumes whilst being broken 
in, and the unearthly gurglings and groanings which 
he utters as an accompaniment to the operation, are 
but faintly suggested in the ordinary respectable ap- 
pearance and behaviour of a well -drilled transport 
camel. Kindness is good, but I would go far to see 
the camel which could be broken in without a liberal 
use of brute force. The waste, howling wildernesses 



70 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

of interior Somaliland, judging from the enormous 
numbers of camels existing there, would seem to be 
their paradise. There you come to know the camel, 
and to appreciate his enduring and patient qualities. 
To the Somali he is all in all, food and drink, the pro- 
duct of his labour and his toil, his current coin, his 
merchandise and bank, his inheritance, and the object 
of his ambition. What other beast, which can be 
purchased for Rs.50 and will carry a load of 260 lb. 
or more, will go on till he is worn out, living mean- 
while on thorns, and needing a drink only about 
every five days ? 

When there is good green grazing, and they are 
not at work, the camels may be watered only once in 
every two or three months. When at work they are 
reckoned to drink about five gallons at each watering. 
Practically everywhere in Somaliland there is food for 
them, either in grass or in the various acacias or 
thorn bushes. The morning dew on the grass is con- 
sidered harmful, and consequently on the march 
their daily feeds are taken, one during the heat of the 
day, and the other half an hour before sundown. 
They have an aversion to sheep and goats, and are 
therefore not grazed in company with them. As a 
rule, a herd, when grazing, will be led by an old 
camel carrying a large wooden bell or ^* Kor " hung 
round its neck as in the one forming the subject of 
the illustration opposite page 64. 

The method of loading a camel in Somaliland is quite 
different from that adopted in Abyssinia. No saddle. 




* FIRST GKT THE CAMEL DOWN." 




THE HERIO APPUKI). 

Page 71. 




THK TREASURY CHESTS ON THE WAY TO JIGJIGA. 




JIGJIGA FORT. 



'Page 77. 



NAMES OF MATS, Etc. ^l 

or wooden framework, or cross-stick arrangement is 
used, but mats are tied to the camel, and upon them 
the load is fixed. The camel is brought down to the 
ground by the simple process of pulling his legs out 
from under him, and he is kept in that position whilst 
the mats are fixed in place. Three mats are generally 
used, each about nine feet by four, and they are 
applied over his back and hump, coming well down 
on each side, and are fastened by two ropes, both of 
which pass underneath the camel, one behind and the 
other in front of the resting pad. The first, smooth 
mat is called the ** kebid," and is made of chewed 
galol bark fibre ; the second, or middle mat, is the 
"ahous," and is made of plaited grass, smooth on 
one side and rough on the other, like an ordinary 
woollen mat ; the third or outermost mat is the 
"abjit," and is made of plaited grass like the ahous. 
The ahous and the abjit are applied with their rough 
surfaces together, and the three mats make up the 
h6rio (pronounced hayreeo). The rope tying the mat 
on to the camel is called the "yell," that fastening 
on the load is the " sortitharri," and the leading rope 
is the "h5gan." In the case of riding (Arabian) camels, 
the rein or nose rope, which passes through the right 
nostril, is spoken of as the "moharka," the single 
bridle is the " sonarrida," the saddle is the " k5rah," 
and the belly rope, or girth, is the " wiggiritka." 

Marching as we commonly did in the moonlight 
night, either in the late evening or the early morning, 
the camels step out well to keep themselves warm. 



72 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

and, carrying a maximum load of 260 lb. or more, 
usually arrive in camp fresh and fairly frisky. A 
single long night march, in place of two shorter, 
early and late, day marches, saves the camel-man the 
labour of a double turn of loading and unloading, 
which is no inconsiderable item. I puzzled myself for 
a long time in trying to reduce to definite terms the 
difference between the gait of the camel and that of the 
mule. It appears to resolve itself into this : in a mule, 
as in the horse, the near fore leg moves first, closely 
followed by the off hind leg, then the off fore leg and 
the near hind, and so on ; but in the camel, the two 
ofF legs are off the ground together alternately with 
the two near legs, but the hind legs get up a little 
quicker and come down a little sooner than the fore 
legs, thus allowing the opposite legs (near fore and 
ofF hind, or vice versa) to be momentarily on the 
ground at the same time, and this circumstance pre- 
vents the camel's gait from being more oscillatory 
than it otherwise would be. There is, in fact, scarcely 
any motion at all in the camel's hind-quarters from 
the hips to the pad when he is taking regular strides. 



CHAPTER IV 



CHAPTER IV 

Convoying treasury chests to Jigjiga — The Gureis Mountain — The 
country about Jigjiga — Jigjiga — Abdullah Tahr — The wells — 
Watering — Composition of a caravan — Three Months' Stores — 
Departure of Duff and Dunn- — Assistant-Surgeon Wakeman — 
Small Game — Shooting — Arrival of Alone — March to Sesebani, 
Gaho — Order of march — Harakley — Elevation of country — 
Jailee — The thorn bushes, description of — Tuli — "Interpreter" 
— Dagabur — Interruption of march 

/^N November 24th we heard from the Colonel 
^t Jigjiga that either Dunn or myself was to 
convoy the treasury chests to Jigjiga, and the other 
was to have a look at the Babilli road. At the 
same time the Colonel told us that the date on 
which the Abyssinian army would move was still 
uncertain, and that Alone would not be required to 
move till November 26th, or possibly later. As 
a matter of fact, Alone did not march for Jigjiga 
until December 4th. 

Dunn and I tossed for choice, and as the luck fell 
to me I started for Jigjiga, twenty-two miles distant 
to the south-east, at 7.15 a.m. on November 25th, 
taking two camels, led by a Somali, for the transport 
of my bed and the four locked and sealed money 

75 



76 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

boxes, two other camels ridden by armed Somali 
sowars, and a fifth — riding— camel for my own use. 
Our road lay along a level plain through a bushy 
country until 8.15, when we crossed a small dry 
river bed, beyond which the trees became larger, and 
the ground covered with long sun-dried grass. Ap- 
parently there was not much water in that district, as 
the grass was not grazed, and there were few cattle- 
tracks, and no signs of native life. 

About nine o'clock, turning more directly eastwards, 
we left the level country and approached the first 
hills, coming across large herds of magnificent cattle 
and numbers of natives. At 10.30 we began the 
first ascent, and passed a convoy of sixty-eight camels 
coming back empty from Jigjiga. At the top of this 
first ascent the road turns northwards for some dis- 
tance, inclining slightly downhill, and enters a district 
of dhoura plantations and grazing grounds. The road, 
however, soon turns south-eastwards again and leads 
to the ascent of the Marda Pass, which is marked by 
a gap or nek in the Gureis mountain-range ; a range 
which was, I believe, formerly the Abyssinian frontier 
in this part of the country. We halted at one o'clock 
about half-way up the pass, and lunched under the 
shade of a wahbi ^ bush ; concerning which bush one 
of the Somali sowars explained to me in dumb panto- 
mime that the Midgan and some other tribes boil 
down the root to a concentrated form, and use it as 
a poison for their iron arrow points. The slopes of 
^ The names of all trees and bushes are written phonetically. 



THE GUREIS MOUNTAIN 77 

the mountain are thickly wooded, and at the summit 
of the Pass the aneroid registered 8,900 feet.^ 

The reverse slope of the mountain is studded with 
daar and kiddy cacti, and with sugsug, maria, and 
waddy thorn bushes. From the vantage point of 
the summit of the Pass, looking south-south-east, 
there stretches out before one a vast rolling plain 
of rich ripe grass like a table of illimitable length 
spread with a cloth of gold. Far off in the south-east, 
dimly outlined on the horizon, perhaps sixty miles or 
so away, are five mountain-summits, but to the east 
and north-east, for all we could see, the vasty plain 
might stretch away to the antipodes. To the south- 
west, however, the plain rapidly narrows down to 
a strip — a mere finger's breadth it looked, but in 
reality eight miles wide — ^where it becomes squeezed 
in between the mountain-range on the one side and 
a chain of low hills, springing from the plain and 
running southwards, on the other. Our camp at 
Jigjiga was pitched on the northern slope of one of 
these low hills about eight miles from where we 
stood. Amongst the thorn bush around the base 
of the mountain there were extensive patches of the 
wild potato or Somali moh, which is a useless shrub, 

^ This figure is higher than that given in the Pricis of Information 
on Somaiiland (part ii. p. 172), in which the height of the Pass is given 
as 7, zoo feety and that of the adjoining mountain as 8,000 feet. On 
the 28th the Colonel, Duff, and I climbed the Gureis Mountam, and 
estimated the height of the summit to be 9,900 feet, so that, although 
my readings may have been somewhat too high, the heights here given 
must be more nearly accurate than those mentioned in the Pricis. 



78 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

and worse, for it is not only obstructive, but de- 
structive, being furnished with sharp-curved thorns 
that tear your clothes to rags. Its fruit is something 
like a tomato in appearance, and grows on the summit 
of the plant in the form of a golden globe about an 
inch and a half in diameter ; but no part of the plant 
is edible for either man or beast. 

When about five miles from camp I saw two 
pauw, or big bustards, in the grass, about 150 yards 
off. After dismounting I took one of the Somali 
sowars* Martini-Enfield carbines and a cartridge and 
shot the male bird. They are magnificent birds, with 
a black and grey crest and a grey body, and are 
splendid eating. This one was weighed afterwards 
and turned the scale at sixteen pounds. A few of 
his feathers and hackles were kept for the manu- 
facture of salmon flies in the future. 

In borrowing a native's rifle, by the way, it is 
always a wise precaution to look down the inside of 
the barrel before loading, and in doing so on this 
occasion I found it to be plugged with some cotton 
stuflF. 

We reached camp at 3.45 p.m., and not long after- 
wards the Colonel and DuflF came in. 

The days at Jigjiga, from November 26th to 
December 5th, were hot and thirsty, and the nights 
were cold. At 4 a.m., which was the coldest part 
of the night, the temperature varied between 35® and 
37® F. The midday temperature in the shade was 
usually 93** or thereabouts. The sky was commonly 



JIGJIGA 79 

cloudy, and on December 3rd and 4th a few drops 
of rain fell. There were sundry visitations of " dust 
devils," and one of them on December 3rd brought 
our mess tent down about our ears and carried off 
various papers into the unknown. 

The syce and servant with the mules and kit 
arrived in camp the next day, November 27th — and 
in reference to kit, let me say that the cork mattress 
and pillow were left in store at Harrar. An extra 
blanket underneath one is more comfortable and 
softer than the mattress, and by stuffing the head of 
one's valise with a big towel, leaving more at each 
end than in the centre, a very nice and springy pillow 
is obtained. In Somaliland, also, a case should always 
be taken for the mackintosh, otherwise it will get 
very much torn by the thorns when passing through 
the bush, as mine did. 

On November 26th we had news by runners of the 
recovery of the British animals recently looted by 
the Mullah at Bohodtle, and of our occupation of 
Galadi. The Colonel sent back word to urge on the 
Abyssinians, laying great stress on the vital import- 
ance of immediate concentration and advance ; un- 
fortunately, there appeared to be a hitch in their 
arrangements. 

The wells of Jigjiga lie just beyond a fringe of 
trees about a mile to the north of the site of our 
camp, and a quarter of a mile farther on is the 
village, consisting of a conglomeration of native 
huts situated outside a fort, or wooden stockade. 



8o WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

erected by the Abyssinians, and protected by strong 
banket work inside. 

Abdullah Tahr, the Governor of Jigjiga, a Yemen 
Arab, executed some of the details incidental to the 
fitting out of our convoys, and he was always a loyal 
and friendly ally ; not the least appreciated indica- 
tion of which was the delicious hot coffee and milk 
that he used to send us after our long morning's 
marches. He was a most affable person, and he had, 
withal, a remarkable taste in dress. One day, when 
we overtook him on the march, I was able to take a 
careful note of his attire, and found it to consist of 
the following : on his head was a yellow cotton turban 
over a brownish, knitted Balaclava cap ; a native- 
made, unbleached shamma, or tobe, was wound round 
his shoulders ; a blue cloth livery coat with brass 
buttons bearing on their faces the crowned lion of 
Judah, and a pair of khaki drill pantaloons, loosely 
kept up by a leather belt to which was attached a 
silver-mounted dagger in a silver embossed sheath, 
formed the basis of his uniform ; brown socks fell in 
folds round his ankles, and he had on patent leather 
boots, unbuttoned and on the wrong feet ; and, 
finally, he wore a pair of blue goggles and carried a 
coloured parasol. 

There are some hundreds of wells at Jigjiga, but 
when we were there only thirty-one of them yielded 
a good supply of water, and these apparently are 
never dry. During the dry season it is estimated 




AT THH WKI.U^ Jir.JUVA. 




KITCHKN AT JIc;JI<;a.— SIlRf.l-.AN TS VVUW AND SHKrilliRI > 



Pajzc Si 








SOMAU AXn AOIX (vS6l.:MMI-;RIN«'/Sr,A/i:LUv). 




SOMAIJ AND r,l.:K.l.:NUK (WAU.UK'S GA/lCUj:). 



TiiSe 8.;. 



WATERING 8i 

that at least 50,000 cattle, with camels, sheep, mules, 
ponies, and donkeys in great numbers, beside hun- 
dreds of natives, water daily at the wells, some of 
them coming from long distances to the water. It is 
a grand spectacle and one always to be remembered. 
The flocks and herds, each usually under only one 
shepherd, take and wait their turns at the wells, their 
lines converging all round from a distance of several 
miles. When those in front have watered they 
retrace their steps, and as often as not those behind 
open their lines to let them through, exchanging 
greetings as they pass by rubbing noses with them ; 
and the diflFerent herds never appear to get mixed. 
Each well is about thirty feet in depth and is lined 
with strong branches that afford foot purchase to the 
four men who stand straddle-legged across the rect- 
angular shaft and pass the water up to each other. 
The shaft opens in a splay or cup-shaped mouth at 
which a fifth man stands, who throws the ovoid or 
long, bell- shaped vessel up to a sixth man at the 
trough, who, in his turn, catches the full vessel and 
returns an empty one, the contents of which he has 
poured either in the drinking trough or into the 
" bans "^ of women waiting their turn at the well. 

The plains about Jigjiga, covered with grass and 
bush, present many pitfalls to the traveller in the form 
of jackal and fox holes of which numbers are con- 
cealed in the grass. 

^ See note at end of chapter. 
G 



82 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

On the 28 th the Colonel, DufF and I climbed to 
the summit of the Gureis Mountain. We left the 
mules at the top of the pass and then scrambled up 
a thousand feet or more to the summit of the 
mountain — first through open bush and then over 
grass, and nearly all the way over large and loose 
stones, for Africa maintains its reputation in these 
latitudes for stony kopjes. From the top of the 
mountain the whole plain unrolled itself beyond the 
hills where our camp was, and disclosed a marvellous 
stretch of open grass veldt.^ A gigantic stone caps 
the top of the mountain and the grass grows luxuri- 
antly right up to it, and if water were obtainable it 
would be difficult to imagine a stronger natural posi- 
tion than it presents. We noticed a cloud of dust 
about fifteen miles away to the east and allowed our- 
selves to hope that it was a party of Abyssinians 
marching to Babilli, although herds of cattle going to 
water, or a flight of locusts, would equally account 
for what we saw. 

On November 28th Dunn came into camp from 
the camel depot on the Faf, as the Colonel had de- 
cided that DufF and he, with a caravan of 1 70 camels, 
should leave on the 30th for Gaho. With this in 
view DufF handed over to me the duties of Mess 
President on the 27th, and I took them with a reser- 
vation that the first man who made a complaint should 

^ The Somalia burn the grass Teldty exactly as the Boers do, to 
improve the forthcoming crop. 



COMPOSITION OF A CARAVAN 83 

take over the job from me. For the •same reason on 
the 29th the charge of the treasury chests was trans- 
ferred, together with a large number of instructions 
as to mules, camel-men, camels, grass-cutters, escort 
ropes and stores of all sorts, to be obtained, taken, 
left or discharged, at all of which details DufF is a 
master. 

It may, perhaps, be of interest to those who are 
not familiar with the composition of a caravan in 
such countries as these, to indicate, as an example 
of what is required, that of our small caravan 
from Jigjiga. Everything in these desolate regions, 
including water, on many long marches, has to be 
taken with one. 

Each camel -man leads two camels, so that for 
every two camels additional supplies and transport 
have to be provided for one camel -man, and one 
camel will carry supplies for two men for three 
months. 

There were 104 men in camp, excluding eight 
officers^ and two sergeants, and for these 116 camels 
were required ; but in the end our party amounted to 
215 men (of whom iii were camel-men) and 223 
camels, as is shown below. 

The party of 104 men and 116 camels was made 
up as follows. Men : — 

^ These figures relate to all the officers and men attached to Colonel 
Rochfoxt's staff, and the fact that they were not all in the same place 
does not affect the total numbers. 



84 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

Wige* 



Nationality 


Number 


Dut7 


Rt. per Month 


Somali . 


I 


Head cook 


• SO 


M 


I 


Under „ 


. 30 


>» • • • 


I 


Blacksmith 


. 60 


>f • • « 


I 


Headman 


. 60 


>» 


2 


Section headmen 


25 to 30 


» 


I 


Ration man 


. 30 


M 


I 


Baker 


• 30 


» 


I 


Saddler 


• 30 


M 


9 


Camel sowars . 


. 30 


99 • • 


• 13 


Escort 


• 30 


»> • • 


»5 


Scouts 


• 2S 


M 


. i6 


Officers' syces . 


. ^S 


M • • 


I 


Kitchen boy . 


. IS 


M 


I 


Sheep boy 


• >5 


M 


2 


Boys for sergeants 


• IS 


Abyssiniaii 


2 


Interpreters 


• SO 


» 


. 26 


Grass-cutters 








andmulemen 


. 20 



104 

A head camel-man received Rs.40 per month. 

99 11 1 O 99 99 



The wages we had to give are higher than those 
that small parties of travellers have to pay. 
Camels : — 

29 camels required for Water. 



»4 


9 99 


„ Officers' kit, tents, etc. 


2 9 


9 99 


„ Sergeanu',, „ 


4 


9 99 


„ Ammunition. 


2 , 


9 99 


„ Kitchen. 


6 


9 99 


„ Medical stores. 


II 9 


9 99 


„ Grain for riding camels. 


2 , 


9 99 


„ Treasury chests. 


6 


9 99 


„ Spare rations. 


30 


f >9 


„ Mess stores. 


116 







THREE MONTHS' STORES 85 

One hundred and sixteen camels require fifty-eight 
camel-men, making 104+58=162 men, exclusive of 
officers and sergeants. 

Men Months Camels Camel-men 

Rations for 162 for 3 require 81 which require 41 



M 


99 


41 


>» 


» 


20 


99 


10 




9» 


10 

2 


99 
9> 


99 
99 


5 

I 


99 


2 



add 58 akeady ac- 
215 men 107 counted for 

add 1 16 transport camels 

223 camels 1 1 1 camel-men 

In addition to these, twenty -five mules were re- 
quired for the scouts, sixteen for the officers' mounts, 
and two for the sergeants', as well as two ponies — one 
for the Colonel and one for Duff, the officer in com- 
mand of the scouts. 

All the men were Somalis with the exception of 
the grass-cutters and the interpreters, and the scale 
of daily rations for each man was i lb. of rice, ^ lb. of 
dates, and 2 oz. of ghee, and the amounts for ninety 
days totalled up as follows : — 

Rice, 216 men x 90 days (i lb. per day) = 191440 lb., say 20,000 lb. 
Dates „ X45 „ (I „ „ )= 9,7*099 99 10,000,, 
Ghee „ xiij,, (J „ „ ) - 2,430,, „ 2,500,, 

Finally we carried forty-eight i2^gallon water-tanks 
and five 8 -gallon tanks. The magnitude of the stores 
and transport necessary for so small a party in a three 
months' campaign will suffice to suggest the require-^ 
ments of a force of from five to ten thousand fighting 



86 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

men, such as constituted the British Somaliland Field 
Force." These considerations may perhaps induce 
some caution in those critics at home (to whom 
sooner or later the bill comes) to whom the rounding 
up of the Mullah in a country some five hundred 
miles long by some four hundred wide appears to 
be so much easier a business than it does to those 
who take a part in the attempt. 

On the 29th, when all was ready for DuflTs caravan 
to leave on the morrow, the Somali camel-men took 
it into their heads to strike. They wanted to be 
armed with rifles and given better wages, and the 
Colonel refused their demands. They marched oflF 
about half a mile from camp, and there halted and 
held a vigorous debate amongst themselves. After 
three-quarters of an hour or so they returned to 
camp, and took up their work as if nothing had 
happened. In the twilight their chatter was so noisy 
and their activity so pronounced that it might have 
been thought they were fighting amongst themselves ; 
and perhaps the Colonel almost wished that a few of 
the more turbulent would fall upon and slay each 
other, and so have done with their jabber. As a 
matter of feet we had no more trouble with them for 
some time, and they worked excellently. They had 
taken their measure of the Colonel, and found, as 
ignorant folk often do, that justice tempered with 
mercy is an attribute of the strong, and not of the 
weak. 

DufiF, Dunn, and their caravan started in good 



ASSISTANT-SURGEON WAKEMAN 87 

order the next morning. Duff's programme was 
to march to Sesebani and there await the Colonel, 
failing other instructions. Their route was as fol- 
lows : — Leave Jigjiga November 30th, arrive at Gaho 
December ist ; leave Gaho December 3rd, arrive at 
Dinwale the same evening ; at Jailee on the morning 
of December 4th, at El J id in the evening ; at Tuli on 
the morning of December 5th and at Dagabur on the 
evening of December 6th ; halt there a day, and then 
to proceed by two night marches to Sesebani. 

Dunn was to join the Abyssinians if required ; but 
as it was an almost unheard of thing for an Abys- 
sinian to go sick on the march, it was not expected 
that it would be necessary. 

After DufTs party had left there were only the 
Colonel, myself. Sergeant Shepherd, and thirty-five 
men remaining in camp at Jigjiga, with seven mules, a 
pony, and forty-nine camels. One of the men, to wit, 
my useless servant Said, was sacked the next day 
and paid up to date, receiving $19*4 in all — a sum 
which included his pay of Rs.40 a month and his 
fare of Rs.9'8 from Dire Daouw to Djibouti, and 
from there to Aden. 

On December ist we were joined by Assistant- 
Surgeon W. A. M. Wakeman from Adis Ababa, and it 
is impossible to introduce his name without express- 
ing one's deep indebtedness to him for many services, 
particularly for his help in obtaining a large number 
of the details of Abyssinian life and habits that are 
given in later chapters. By means of his intimate 



88 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

knowledge of Amharic and Arabic, and of the char- 
acter and mode of thought of the people, it was 
possible to gain confidences and information which 
would have been quite unobtainable by myself. Mr. 
Wakeman entered the Indian Medical Department in 
1894, and served successively in the Reserve Brigade 
in the Tirah campaign of 1895, ^^ surgeon on an 
Indian marine vessel from 1896 to 1897, as assistant 
to the port health officer at Bombay on special plague 
duty, and for nine months in the military hospital 
at Aden, after which he went to Abyssinia, being 
attached to Colonel Harrington's first Abyssinian 
mission in 1898. He has been in Abyssinia since 
then, and in 1902-3 he accompanied Mr. A. E. Butter 
on his expedition for the survey of the southern 
frontier of the country, returning afterwards to re- 
sume his duties at the British Agency at Adis Ababa. 

Sergeant R. Shepherd, of the Tower Hamlets 
Volunteers, did good service in South Africa while 
serving in Lord Methuen's force, and at the action 
of Klip River he came specially to notice. His repu- 
tation as a reliable and handy man was well maintained 
with us, and his books and accounts were a model of 
neatness and accuracy. 

It was an easy matter at Jigjiga to supplement our 
tinned stores by what guinea-fowl, partridges, or hares 
we wanted. When you had shot them, however, it 
was as well to hang them in a place safe from the 
jackals. One day I brought in five guinea-fowl and 
a hare, and gave explicit instructions to the Somali 



SHOOTING 89 

cook to hang them out of the reach of the jackals in 
the grass shelter used by the camel sowars. Instead 
of that he hung them on the kitchen screen, and the 
result was that they all disappeared. It was as useless 
to lament as to try to extract " sunbeams from 
cucumbers," so the simplest thing to do was to go out 
next morning before breakfast and shoot some more. 
We took good care that the jackals did not get off 
scot-free, and amongst us shot a good many of them. 
There was indeed little else to shoot at by way of 
rifle practice, or possibly we should not have 
bothered about them, although they had fairly good 
brushes and skins. 

On December 3rd I decided to trek oflF for the day 
in the direction of the Hargeisa Road and try to get 
a shot at aoul. Sergeant Shepherd had a cup of tea 
and biscuit ready at 3.15 a.m., and at that time the 
men were already up and regaling themselves pre- 
paratory to the day's fast, as it was during Ramadan. 
DuflTs Mannlicher rifle, some cartridges, a pair of Zeiss 
No. 8 field-glasses, a water-bottle, biscuits, a small tin 
of potted meat, a tin-opener, and a loading rope 
formed one's usual equipment on such a morning's 
shoot. I rode a saddled mule, my syce another, and 
an Abyssinian muleman led the way on foot. We 
marched at first by the light of the moon and then by 
starlight, getting to the ground, about eight miles 
distant, with the first streak of dawn. We saw herds 
of aoul grazing in the open grassy plain, but as the 
grass was patchy in places and was only about eighteen 



po WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

inches long, having been topped by the cattle, camels, 
or gazelles, stalking was difficult. I dropped into the 
grass, leaving the mules with the muleman and syce, 
and after crawling for a quarter of a mile or more, 
got within about 280 yards of the nearest buck, 
' which was looking intently in my direction. I was, 
however, so breathless and unsteady that it was im- 
possible to take a shot for some time ; and before 
I had steadied down sufficiently, he sounded the 
alarm, and the whole herd — about forty in number — 
made off. At last, after many ineffectual attempts, a 
lucky stalk brought me within 250 paces of a big 
buck, which I dropped at the first shot. He was 
a good specimen, and his horns measured I9f inches 
along the outer curve, 6f inches from tip to tip, 
and 5 inches in circumference at the base. He 
was our only spoil that day. There were several 
large herds about, but, with so many on the alert, 
it was a difficult matter to get anywhere near them, 
because when one broke away, the rest immediately 
followed suit. 

Major Alone arrived at Jigjiga on December 4th, 
and the Colonel and I, with a caravan of forty-nine 
camels and escort, left in the track of Duff* for 
Sesebani the next day. Alone and Wakeman were 
to return to Harrar on the 6th and bring up the 
reserve supplies, as by this time the Abyssinian forces, 
with whom were Baird, Ogilvy, and Fairfax, had 
reached Babilli. 

The Colonel, preceded by a party under the com- 



MARCH TO SESEBANI, GAHO 91 

mand of Abdullah Tahr, marched at noon on December 
5th, sending forward six camels and twelve full wafer- 
tanks to our next stopping place, only nine miles 
farther on, as he intended the first stage to be a short 
one. The moon had been full the day before, and 
the rule is to march with a waxing moon by night 
and with a waning moon in the early morning, so 
as to avoid the interval of darkness ; hence on 
December 6th we had to be on the move by 3 a.m. 

After the usual cup of tea and biscuits we de- 
spatched the water camels and the rest of the caravan, 
whilst we ourselves followed a little after four o'clock. 
Gaho was reached at 9.15, after an easy march of 
twenty miles south-east from Jigjiga, except for the 
last few hundred yards, when the road turned west- 
wards. There is a good, well-beaten track all the 
way, inclining downhill, and the aneroid showed a 
fall of 700 feet from Jigjiga, so that the elevation 
of Gaho is probably 4,300 feet ; and the night 
seemed distinctly warmer than the one before. On 
our way we saw at least a score of gerenuk, but there 
was no chance of getting a shot at them. I noticed 
also a lot of parrots and parroquets in different places. 
The air at Gaho was delightfully dry and bracing, 
and there was a pleasant breeze, but all the grass 
and trees looked very dry, and we were told by the 
natives that there would be no water left in the wells 
in a month's time. There were then only five or six 
of the wells out of the hundred or more in existence 
which contained water, and in none of them was it 



92 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

more than a fo©t deep. The wells there are simply 
cone-shaped holes about fifteen feet deep, and the 
presence of so many of them over a relatively small 
area gives the ground a sieve-like or honeycombed 
appearance. The natives stated that the water was 
strongly aperient, and recommended, as a combina- 
tion, the climate of Gaho and the water of Jigjiga. 
When the wells fail the flocks and herds are moved 
to Biade, near the Fafan, about thirty miles to the 
north-west, and in a general way only a few nomadic 
families are found in the Gaho district. A striking 
thing about the climate of Somaliland, as compared 
with that of the Soudan, is the absence of thirst 
which one experiences. In most places in the Soudan 
one is consumed with a parching thirst, and immedi- 
ately on drinking, moisture oozes from every pore. 
In Somaliland, however, a sip or a few mouthfuls 
now and then were all that was required, and the 
skin was always dry. 

At Gaho we pitched our tents, according to custom, 
to windward of the animals, and the next morning, 
December 7th, shortly after three o'clock, started 
for Harakley, sixteen miles distant, in the same order 
of march as before. The Colonel and I arrived at 
8.45, and found that Abdullah Tahr, who as usual 
had been with the advance guard, had his delicious 
coffee awaiting us, and with it and cold guinea-fowl 
from the day before, biscuits, and jam, we made a 
good breakfast, and had a good sleep besides, before 
the arrival of the baggage camels. One day on the 



ELEVATION OF COUNTRY 93 

march is like another, and these details reproduce 
themselves. The tents are pitched, the branches 
cut, and the zareba made ; the animals are picketed, 
watered, and fed ; you have a scrub, do a little 
tailoring or darn a sock — fine drawn and no tinker- 
ing — if you have the opportunity and the energy, 
you enter up your diary with strange blessings on 
the man who invented pens, ink, and paper, for it 
is done in the sweltering heat beneath what shade 
you can find whilst you sit in a semi-nude condition. 
One other little daily incident of racial interest was 
that since leaving Harrar it had often been necessary 
to give a lift to Bess, our would-be lion-hound, but 
none of the Somalis, as good Mohammedans, would 
pollute their bodies by touching her for fear of 
imperilling their souls. Their anxiety concerning 
the destination of the soul, however, did not extend 
to one that happened to be in possession of a female, 
since they were willing enough that a girl should 
hand the dog up to me. 

The road from Gaho to Harakley is a good track ; 
in fact, it would almost be possible to drive a motor- 
car from Jigjiga to Gaho were there petrol stations 
and other accessories. The aneroid showed a fall of 
280 feet from Gaho, so that the elevation of Harakley 
is a little over 4,000 feet. I feel sure, however, that 
the readings of my aneroid were sometimes excessive, 
and the fall was therefore probably not quite so great 
as stated. It may be pointed out, once for all, that 
the ground falls practically all the way from Jigjiga to 



94 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

Gabridchari — from Jigjiga to Scsebani, 131 miles, 
nearly 2,ocxd feet, and from Sesebani to Gabridehari, 
97 miles, about 1,400 feet. 

There are two large groups of shallow wells at 
Harakley similar to those at Gaho, but not so 
numerous. In some of them it was possible to reach 
the water by scrambling down the side, but in others 
it required four men to bring the water to the top. 
There was not more than a foot of water in any of 
the wells when we were there, and in most cases it 
was muddy, though the natives pronounced it to be 
^^good,'* and also said that at no time were all of 
these wells dry. 

On December 8th we were up again at 2.30 
and started 9t 4.30 for Jailee, eighteen miles away, 
refilling our water tanks before leaving. Hitherto 
the way had been over sandy ground covered with 
very little else but thorn bushes and dried grass ; 
now, however, it became dusty and earthy and 
the track much rougher, but the same everlasting 
thorns were on every side, opening out in several 
places, but in others forming impenetrable thickets. 
Many of the thorn bushes presented the bulbous en- 
largement or deformity of their thorns which is so 
common. In most places the enlargements are white, 
but about here I noticed, particularly in the variety 
called by the natives " waddy," that they were of a 
black or dark brown colour. This waddy tree com- 
monly grows to a height of from twenty to thirty feet 
or more, and possesses in some cases thorns which are 




OIR MIDGAN GUIDE. 



Page 94. 




< 
< 






THE THORN BUSHES 



95 



larger than those of any of the other trees thereabouts, 
being eight inches long or more, and it also exudes 
a large quantity of gum which the natives say causes 
flatulency. 

The enlargements on the spines of the trees, 
characteristic of the myrmecephylous plants, are 
inhabited by ants which defend the plant from 
injurious insects and feed on the sticky secretion 
often found on the leaves. The ant eggs are probably 
laid in the young growing spine, which subsequently 
bulges with the development of the ants, which them- 
selves, when fully formed, eat their way out. Thus, 
on the same stem one may often see well-developed 
spines which have been left untouched, six or 
eight inches long, with other dwarfed bulbous ones, 
not more than i J or 2 inches in length. I obtained 
from our Somali escort the native names of most of 
the trees, the branches of which were cut indis- 
criminately in forming a zareba,^ and a few details of 

* Wc are mdcbted to Mr. W. S. Fenwick, b.sc, for identifying 
the specimens sent home, as follows : — 



Native Name 


Botanical Name 


Natural Order 


Sub-order 


Kiddy 


Euphorbia Cuneata ? 


Euphorbiaceae 




Megag 


Ormocaq>um Spinatum 


Leguminosae 


? 


Adad 


Acacia Senegal 


99 


Mimosex 


Bilal 


19 


MeUifera 


99 


99 


Chairin 


»» 


Sergal 


99 




►9 


Khoorah 


99 


Fistulans 


99 




►9 


Galol 


99 


? 


9> 




»9 


Marrah 


99 


Arabica 


»9 




n 


Guasu 


99 


Pennata 


99 




► 9 


Waddy 


99 


(new species) ? 


99 




►» 


Sarman 


>9 


(.. ")? 


99 




»9 



96 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

some of the chief varieties may be of intereait. With 
the exception of megag and kiddy, they are all 
leguminous plants and acacias of the sub-order 
Mimoseae. From a little way off the megag looks 
like a bush covered with a luxuriant growth of lichen, 
but on inspection it is found that the branches are 
closely packed round with tiny yellowish -green 
flowers and with little green leaves of an ovate form 
springing in clusters from the stem. The natives 
burn these branches and use the carbonised ends to 
blacken the inside of their " deeshas " or milk vessels. 
The kiddy cactus grows freely in that district, and 
is often mistaken at a distance for megag, since it 
grows in the same thick, close-set form and produces 
much the same outline. Galol, or jalol, is apparently 
the same as the Egyptian lebbekh, and in the adad 
I recognised an old friend, the Egyptian nebak, or 
"wait-a-bit" thorn, with its short curved spines set 
against one and one's garments. The short broad 
pods of the adad are very like those of another thorn, 
bilal. In some varieties, especially the chairin and 
the khoorah, the pods form large horseshoe-shaped 
crescents, or nearly complete rings, and in the chairin, 
particularly, they are remarkably thick, coarse and 
fibrous. The bark of a variety called " goomer " is 
used by the natives to make the kebid of h6rios and 
it possesses a very unpleasant smell ; and the thorns 
of this tree and another called " addy " provide the 
natives with tooth-brushes. Nearly all the trees are 
gum-bearing, and some, such as the waddy, in a 



TULI 97 

particularly liberal manner. The large, thick white 
thorns of sarman are for some reason left undisturbed 
by the ants, and exhibit no bulbous enlargements. 
The small red pods of this tree give it a very bright 
appearance when they are ripe. All the gum-bearing 
trees are used as firewood, and unless in a time of 
great drought they are all said to be evergreen. 

During our morning marches, on the 7th and 8th, 
it had felt chillier than before, and this was probably 
due to the higher level of the sub-soil water, as 
evidenced by the presence of water in the shallow 
wells at Harakley. At Jailee (3,700 feet) we found 
a chain of some fifty wells, about twelve feet deep, in 
most of which there was from three to twelve inches 
of very muddy water, but which, nevertheless, was 
again pronounced by the natives to be "sweet and 
good." The wells are dug in the course of a channel 
in the ground, in which water lodges during the 
rains, and lie about half a mile east of the " road," 
and between five and six miles south-west of a 
characteristic dip in the Megag range of hills. 

Doctoring natives and mules, and shooting for the 
pot, occupied the day at Jailee, and the next morning 
we pushed on twenty-two miles farther, and at 8 a.m. 
halted close to Tuli (3,500 feet), where there was no 
water. The track was a little harder and not so 
dusty as on the day before, but there was the same 
close thorn bush on either side. Our guide was a 
Midgan, armed with a bow and with a quiver of iron- 
pointed arrows, the barbs of which were poisoned 

H 



98 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

with the wahbi plant On the march the Colonel and 
I rode and walked at alternate intervals of about fifty 
minutes to rest ourselves and the mules. 

The silvery moon was generally vertically over us 
as we set out, and cast a clear light all round. The 
Southern Cross, like a tilted kite, was before us, the 
morning star on our left front (S.E.), the Plough be- 
hind and to the left (N.E.), and Orion above us to 
the west. We passed Gebel Cumber on the east, 
and Gebel Tuli on the west. Near the former, about 
5 a.m., the Colonel saw five aoul, some distance off, 
and I had a shot at them at 240 yards from behind 
a bush with the sun in my face, but missed them. 
In the cold of the early morning one's fingers were 
half frozen and the sensation almost gone, so that I 
could neither properly hold the rifle nor feel the 
trigger. The aoul careered round, not knowing 
whence the shot was fired, and halted, about 170 yards 
off, where I could just see their shoulders above the 
long grass in which they stood. After rubbing my 
fingers well I took a standing shot and dropped the 
leading buck, and, on the Colonel's suggestion, took 
another shot at the second one, and dropped him too. 
We left a man with them to bring them on when the 
transport camels came up. 

There was much spoor of game, and in one place 
a lion's track. Large herds of camels were seen 
grazing, and concerning them, the Colonel elicited 
the following illuminating information from our 
Abyssinian interpreter, Georgis, who, in response to 



INTERRUPTION OF MARCH 99 

the Colonel's inquiry as to the proportion of trans- 
port to milk camels in the herds, said, " If there are 
a few, there are a few, and if there are many, there 
are many." 

The next day (December loth) we were up at 1.40, 
started off at 2.40, and reached Dagabur, twenty-two 
miles distant, at 8.45. The march was a longer one 
than had been expected, but the tendency ever is to 
under-estimate long distances and to over-estimate 
short ones. The road was much the same as before. 
At 7.20 we crossed the deep sandy Jerrer River bed, 
and subsequently marched more or less along it, 
crossing it again, and then recrossing it ten minutes 
from camp. Sergeant Shepherd, who brought up 
the rear with the camel transport, reached camp at 
1 1 a.m., and reported that early in the morning, when 
not far from Tuli, he had seen a lion about 300 yards 
from the road, and that it had walked on the flank of 
the caravan for several hundred yards. 

Bad news reached us at Dagabur that same after- 
noon, and the halt there became much longer than 
had been bargained for. 

Note. — A water vessel . . . is a Han. 

The cover of a water vessel . is an Agan. 

A milk vessel . . . is a Deesha. 

The cover of a milk vessel . is a Dilka. 



CHAPTER V 



CHAPTER V 

Bad news from Farso— Colonel Rochfort — The proceedings of the 
Abyssinians — Dagabur — The wells — The country round — Ant- 
hills — Abdullah Tahr — Shooting oryx — Tracking a runaway 
mule — Arrival of Duff and Dunn — A lion tale — Good news 
from the Colonel — The march resumed — Sesebani — The wells — 
Arrival of Ogilvy — March to Dagaha Mado^Camp at Dagaha 
Mado — Ramsay-F airfax 

/^UR news from Baird, who was with the Abys- 
sinians at Farso, was short and evil. He told 
us that owing to the reported scarcity of water along 
the line of advance, the army would not be able to 
proceed farther south. 

It is impossible to describe our disappointment at 
the prospect of such a stoppage. Our toil and sweat, 
it would appear, had been for nothing, and we were 
pulled up short, and found ourselves like a ship 
ashore, high and very dry. However, if things were 
really as bad as the present anticipations indicated, we 
could only submit with as good a grace as possible, 
for if the wells would not hold water, what argument 
would ? There would be no earthly use in dropping 
buckets into empty wells. It is a bad enough thing 
sometimes to be on half rations, but, with no water 

103 



I04 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

obtainable, the desert becomes an impassable barrier, 
and 5,000 men, 1,500 camels and 12,000 mules, 
require a lot to drink. 

It is difficult to speak highly of our superior 
officers without giving occasion for offence, but 
perhaps it may be permissible to say that we counted 
ourselves fortunate in having a man like Colonel 
Rochfort at our head, for if anyone could get us out 
of the difficulty he was the man. 

The history and disposition of the Abyssinian 
force up to that time, December loth, had been as 
follows : during September the Emperor Menelik 
issued orders for the collection of a force of four 
thousand mounted men, to include a considerable 
number of his own personal troops, and towards 
the end of November, this army, under the command 
of Fituarari Gabri, had assembled at Babilli, about 
thirty-six miles to the south-west of Harrar. The 
arrangement was that the force should proceed vid 
Wardair to Galadi, occupying these places, and, if 
necessary, make a demonstration towards Mudug. 
The Mullah was known to be in the Nogal Valley, 
and it was desirable that he should be encouraged to 
remain there until the Somaliland field-force was 
ready to act. 

On the previous Abyssinian expedition it had been 
found sufficient for each man to carry one month's 
provisions on a mule, and beyond that to rely on 
supplies which could be drawn from the district in 
which the force was acting. On this occasion, how- 



THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ABYSSINIANS 105 

ever, in consequence of the distance to be covered, 
the scarcity of water, and the total absence of any 
grain on the line of march or in the expected field of 
operations, such an arrangement was out of the 
question. The Abyssinians have no organised system 
of supply and transport, and their mobility had on 
the previous occasion been much hampered by the 
lack of vessels for water transport. On this expedi- 
tion therefore the British Government supplied 5,000 
water bottles, 1,000 eight-gallon and 360 twelve- 
gallon water tanks, together with the pumps and 
waterproof sheets necessary for improvising drinking 
troughs ; and arrangements were made for carrying 
two months' supplies and for these to be supple- 
mented later on by three caravans despatched by 
Ras Makunnan. 

What the improvisation of all this meant in an 
Eastern country where neither man nor beast is ex- 
pected to turn up to time, and what were the thousand 
and one difficulties, diplomatic and otherwise, shifts 
and changes of plans and arrangements, delays, 
mishaps, and the rest, are matters that may, perhaps, 
be guessed at, but they are impossible to describe. 
Ras Makunnan himself was most energetic in the 
matter, and was determined that the expedition should 
be carried out if possible. Indeed, the story went 
round afterwards that he had made it to be known 
that any man who retreated while there was water 
in the wells would not be allowed to re-enter 
Harrar. 



lo6 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

On December ist news from Baird was received at 
Jigjiga that the Abyssinian army was assembled at 
Babilli, and that Ras Makunnan, Gerolimato, Ogilvy 
and Fair^, the latter with two Colt guns on tripods, 
were with the force. Each man carried two months* 
provisions, either on his own or on the Ras's mules 
or camels, and there were two hundred additional 
mules carrying sufficient ammunition to make up two 
hundred rounds per man, including the rounds in 
their bandoliers, while one month's rations on a 
thousand Ogaden camels were to follow to Wardain 
At the same time Baird told us that there were then 
five hundred water-carrying camels with the force, 
but that a thousand more were required. 

The Abyssinians subsequently marched as far south 
as Farso, and there, in consequence of the bad reports 
returned by the parties sent out to report on the 
water likely to be available on the march, they came 
to a stop. Their line of advance and ours converged 
at Sesebani, thirty-three miles south of Dagabur, 
which latter place we had reached on December loth. 
On the receipt of Baird's intelligence, the Colonel 
immediately decided to go and see for himself how 
matters stood, and determined, if it were in any 
way possible, to get the advance carried out. With 
this purpose he left on December nth, at 2.45 
a.m., taking with him a small caravan of nine 
^^^gg^gc camels, three camel sowars, and four mules. 
I was left at Dagabur, and Duff and Dunn, who 
had been working down south, returned here on 



DAGABUR 107 

December 15th, since nothing further could be under- 
taken whilst the present impasse continued. 

There were few men in camp, and the duties were 
nominal, so that such an opportunity for prospecting 
the country, and perhaps getting a little shooting, 
was not to be lost, and I tried to make the most of 
it. At this point, let me express my indebtedness to 
DufF for the loan of his Mannlicher rifle, which he 
handed over to me at Jigjiga with a sufficiency of 
cartridges. My own rifles and guns were still wan- 
dering about the country, nobody knew where. The 
calibre of the Mannlicher ('256) is, however, too small 
for big game, and on several occasions, to my great 
disappointment, despite prolonged search, I lost 
wounded animals in consequence. 

Dagabur {lit. Rocky Hill) was formerly the site of a 
considerable village, but the constant raids to which 
the natives were exposed in the absence of an ordered 
Government, led eventually to its desertion, so that 
now, like many other places marked on the maps, it 
is nothing more than the name given to a collection 
of wells, and every vestige of human habitation has 
disappeared. The wells are known as the Hari Yusif 
wells, and a group of seven of them lies along the track 
of the Jerrer River, about a quarter of a mile south 
of where we had pitched our camp. Six of them are 
in the river bank and one in the dry bed, while a little 
farther south there are two others, which were said 
to hold less water. All the wells are sunk through 
the sandstone rock and appear to be about forty feet 



/ 



io8 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

deep, and it takes eight men to raise the water from 
the bottom of the well to the troughs at the top. 
The water is cool and fairly clear, and was said to be 
four feet deep in most of the wells, and not to fail 
through the dry season. 

Dagabur is about 3,100 feet above sea level, and 
was distinctly warmer than any other place we had 
stayed in since leaving Harrar. The country for some 
miles round is almost destitute of grass, although the 
whole district is overrun with large herds of cattle, 
flocks of sheep and goats, and droves of camels. 
Here and there one finds patches of closely-cropped 
grass, particularly along the course of the river bed, 
and in places where, at first, one would not have 
expected it, namely, in the stony places and amongst 
the rocks. It occurred to me that the denudation of 
the country of grass was possibly due to the fact that 
the animals pull it up, root and all, out of the loose 
earth, whereas in the rocky ground the roots get a 
firm hold. Although there is a scarcity of grass, 
there is no lack of fodder for camels, as the thorn 
bushes provide them with a plentiful supply. All 
the trees, owing no doubt primarily to the scarcity 
of water, appear to wither off and die before reaching 
full maturity ; and nature, thereby, sooner than usual, 
returns to the earth what she has borrowed from it, 
sacrificing, it seems, with solicitous motherhood the 
bodies, even of the middle-aged, to the well-being 
of the rising generation. 

There are large numbers of immense ant-hills 




o 
o 
a 
o 

s 



Q 



o 




J 

i4 







SOMALI WOMKN WITH HANS (WATKR VIvSSKI^S). 




A MAT HUT— SOMA IJ. 



Page 120. 



ABDULLAH TAHR 109 

scattered all over the country, and some of them are 
of great height, as is shown in the accompanying 
illustration of an ant-hill with a man six feet high 
standing beside it. Very commonly they are fifteen 
feet high, but in some cases are as much as twenty 
or thirty feet. They are said to arise by the ants 
collecting the debris formed after flood or fire in the 
bush, and heaping it up around dead tree-trunks or 
something of that kind. 

Abdullah Tahr remained with us at Dagabur, and 
in many ways he was a pleasant companion. Some- 
times he would talk of his own affairs, and very 
often he speculated upon ours. He preferred to 
stand still rather than to move with the times, and 
the benefits of education were not obvious to him. 
One day he was telling me about his son, a youngster 
who was at Harrar learning the Koran, and I inquired 
whether he was going to have him taught a little 
English, French, or Italian. " No," Abdullah replied ; 
"only Arabic, and perhaps a little Abyssinian, but 
nothing else. If he learnt European languages he 
might come to love the world too much and his home 
too little, and forget the teaching of the Koran." 
Like many other Abyssinians, he was puzzled to 
know why Englishmen came out there, if it was not 
to spy out the land. Why should they make up 
caravans simply for the sake of going about and 
shooting ? Why should they pay high wages to their 
servants and distribute presents to all sorts of people ? 
" Have you no poor in your own country ? " was the 



no WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

inquiry that was made of me ; and, to tell the truth, 
I had a good deal of difficulty in making a satis- 
factory reply. 

Sergeant Shepherd undertook the duties of cook 
after the Colonel's party left Dagabur, and in doing so 
he enhanced his already good reputation for thorough- 
ness ; but he was handicapped by the fact that, beyond 
pigeons, there was very little small game that could 
be obtained for eating purposes. In attempting to 
stalk gerenuk or orjrx, one sometimes had fortune in 
the sport, while at other times one was the sport of 
fortune. It was the invariable rule that the wind came 
with the sun, so that in working with the sun in your 
face, a shot was often difficult. On December 12th 
I started off at 4.15 a.m. with my syce and a Somali 
guide, hoping to get a shot at gerenuk. We marched 
till 5.30, and then halted until sunrise, a few 
minutes later. Very soon I caught a glimpse of game 
between the bushes, but not nearer than five or six 
hundred yards. About eight o'clock I got within 
240 yards of a fine buck oryx, and tumbled him over 
at the first shot. Another buck, which was standing 
close by, began trotting off, and directly after I had 
had a shot at him, the buck, which I had thought 
dead, jumped up, and the two, together with three 
does, trotted away, leaving two tracks of blood. We 
followed them for over two hours, but finally lost 
their traces, as they disappeared into some dense 
thorny bush over a hard gravelly bed. 

On the 13th I went off again, and within twenty 



SHOOTING ORYX ill 

minutes of leaving camp had bagged a couple of aoul, 
each of them at about 120 yards. Unfortunately 
one of them was a doe, and she had been raked from 
stem to stern. In the bad light — as both sexes have 
horns — it is quite impossible to distinguish male 
from female. There did not seem to be much 
difficulty in getting aoul, and I made up my mind 
that, except for commissariat purposes, I would leave 
them alone for the present. Tramping on for a long 
time, we finally came upon the fresh spoor of an orjrx, 
and although nothing came of it we had an instruc- 
tive piece of tracking. As far as I could understand, 
it was about as follows : The spoor was fresh, for we 
soon came to a place where the animal — evidently 
a male — had urinated, and the ground was still wet. 
He had proceeded at a walk at first, but then, probably 
from scenting us, had stepped out. His course was 
very zigzag sometimes, and we could not avoid now 
and then getting to windward of him. His haste 
may, however, have been due to the necessity of 
getting to the place of assignation at the appointed 
hour, for, farther on, we came to the meeting of two 
trails, the one that we were following, and another 
— most likely a female's — which met it at a right 
angle. There had been a bit of a scuffle, and the 
sand was a good deal scattered about. Finally they 
stepped off together, the buck leading ; at first they 
went slowly and then hurriedly, most likely from 
seeing us, or perhaps they were ashamed of their 
disorderly proceedings. They moved at a canter 



112 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

until out of possible view of us, when they halted 
behind a bush to observe our movements. After 
this they decided on elusive tactics and doubled back 
on their course, circling well round, and finally de- 
scended into a ravine, the bed of which was rocky, 
and could not receive their footprints. It was a 
trump card to play, and they won the point, for we 
lost all trace of them at that place and had to give 
up the hunt without having caught a glimpse of 
them. I could not say if the syce would give a 
similar version of their movements, for it was very 
difficult to understand anything he said. He spoke 
only Somali with a few words of what was, to me, a 
bewildering form of Arabic, and his stock of English 
consisted of the convenient expression "Awrright." 
On our return to the mules we found that some 
natives were already engaged in devouring the aoul 
meat, and I made them a present of a few matches in 
return for a Kodak snapshot. Matches and a water- 
bottle, by the way, are indispensable in the bush ; 
whilst twisting and turning about in trying to circum- 
vent a quarry, it is often very difficult to keep your 
bearings, and there is nothing easier than to get lost 
in the labyrinth of the bush veldt, and there are few 
things more difficult than finding your way out, 
but if one is assured of drink and of a fire, the matter 
assumes a less hopeless aspect. These remarks, how- 
ever, do not apply to the Somali, for he seems to 
have the happy knack of knowing his way anywhere 
by a sort of intuition. 



ARRIVAL OF DUNN AND DUFF 113 

On the 14th there was no sport at all, in con- 
sequence of a runaway mule putting an untimely end 
to my small expedition. At 5.45 a.m., when about 
five miles from camp, the syce, who was carrying the 
camera and rifle, became very anxious that I should 
shoot a little dig-dig, with a particularly good pair of 
horns, that was standing close by. As the syce was 
reaching out to give me the rifle he overbalanced 
himself, and off went the mule like lightning, letting 
out with his heels as he went, and dragging the un- 
fortunate fellow along with him, the syce's head and 
my Kodak bumping regularly on the ground together. 
The man's right boot, or kabba,^ caught in the stirrup, 
but luckily for him and for my camera, the leather 
strap of the kabba broke before he had gone very far, 
and he sustained nothing worse than a shaking. The 
mule continued his career at full gallop in the direc- 
tion of camp, and succeeded, by virtue of vigorous 
kicking, in ridding himself of the saddle and its 
accessories. 

On the 15th, Duff and Dunn, with 128 men and a 
convoy of 155 camels, arrived from Sesebani. Dunn 
had bagged three oryx, two aoul and two gerenuk in 
the course of his shooting, but DufF had scarcely had 
time to move out of the track between camps, for he 
had been constantly occupied in collecting informa- 
tion and in investigating the water supplies along the 
projected line of route. 

That same afternoon natives brought in word that 

^ A kind of sandal. 

I 



114 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

there were some lions on a mountain side about 
seven miles away to the north, so we arranged for 
a shoot the next morning. We took two gun-bearers 
each, and six men on ponies to locate the lions, with 
an extra man to hold our mules, and we reached the 
supposed haunt about seven o'clock. The men were 
sent out to look for fresh spoor, and we devoted the 
time to having a good hour's sleep and to making 
ourselves some tea in Duff's "billy." In about an 
hour and a half the men returned without having 
been able to find any trace of the lions, and the 
natives thereabouts told us that they had seen 
nothing of them. Altogether the report turned out 
to be one of the fairy tales to which the traveller in 
those regions is often subjected. A native, be it 
remembered, has a lively imagination, and that which 
was hearsay to someone else will become an absolute 
fact, with all its details complete, when he passes it 
on to another; and I am not sure that now and 
then you do not chance upon one who is glad of an 
opportunity to " pull your leg " if the circumstances 
are favourable and if he can do it discreetly and with 
immunity. 

Splendid news arrived from the Colonel during 
December i6th. He had got over the difficulties in 
the way of the march as few others could have done, 
and the Abyssinians were to advance in small bodies, 
from 300 to 400 strong, and eventually to concentrate, 
if possible, at Gerlogubi. They were exceedingly loath 
to advance in anything but large numbers, and that 



THE MARCH RESUMED 115 

was manifestly impossible, and the Colonel's success 
in inducing them to proceed in relatively small parties 
along an extended line was a remarkable evidence of 
his tact and force of character. It afterwards hap- 
pened sometimes that the advancing column was 
strung out for more than 300 miles. And it will be 
readily understood that the disposition and control of 
such a long line was a very difficult matter ; and it is 
satisfactory to relate that it was carried out without 
the loss of a man. The British officers, as the narra- 
tive will show, became scattered up and down the line 
of route, controlling and protecting the water supply 
at the various places, and pushing on the troops in 
front to make room for those coming on behind, so as 
to avoid overcrowding upon the wells. At the same 
time that he sent us this good news, the Colonel 
instructed us to leave Dagabur for Sesebani on the* 
1 8th, and Duff was ordered to establish a water dak 
at Cordis Birdaale, about half-way between Sesebani 
and Dagaha Mado, through which latter place the 
Abyssinians would have to pass on their way to 
Sesebani. 

We started off at 6 a.m. on the i8th, and marched 
fourteen miles to Birdaale,^ where we halted at ten 
o'clock. The country was of the same character as 
that around Dagabur, and calls for no special descrip- 
tion. The last mile of our march was along the 
Jerrer River bed, in which there are nine wells at 

^ This is another Birdaale from that between Sesebani and Dagaha 
Mado. 



ii6 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

Birdaale. Each of them is^ about thirty feet deep, 
and requires five men to lift the water up to the 
trough. 

After lunch we loaded up again, and marched another 
nine miles to our night's bivouac. About four miles 
short of this bivouac I dismounted, and broke into the 
bush to the east of our line of advance. In attempt- 
ing to stalk some gerenuk I suddenly came upon a 
pair of oryx, and got a good standing shot at one at 
about 140 yards, and dropped it. With the next 
shot I wounded the second, but it was able to get 
away at a good pace and it was not until after getting 
in three running shots that my syce spotted it under a 
bush about sixty yards away from where we were stand- 
ing, and I was able to give it its quietus. On looking 
it over, we found that it was a female and had been 
hit four times, in all cases in the shoulder or chest — a 
good evidence that the calibre of the Mannlicher -256 
is too small for such big game. However, as was 
said before, if it had not been for Duff's kindness in 
lending me the rifle at Jigjiga I should have had 
nothing at all to shoot with, so I counted myself 
very fortunate as it was. On reaching camp, my 
syce, with several Abyssinians, was sent back with 
candle-lanterns to the "kills" — the syce to secure 
the heads, and the Abyssinians to get the meat and 
skins. The full-grown animal usually weighs about 
450 pounds, and therefore supplies a good amount 
of fresh meat. The horns of one of these measured 
33^ inches in length, and of the other 29^ inches. 



ARRIVAL OF OGILVY 117 

On the 19th we marched at 6 a.m., and keeping 
more or less along the line of the Jerrer River bed, 
reached Sesebani, fifty-six miles from Dagabur, at 
about 10 a.m., where we occupied the same ground, 
to the east of the river bed, that Duff and Dunn had 
used on their former visit. 

There are fourteen wells along the river bank at 
Sesebani, and thirteen of them were in use whilst we 
were there, and they had an average depth of 8^ feet 
of water. One well, which was particularly deep, had 
17 feet of water in it. In addition to these, there 
was a group of three wells between the river bed and 
our camp, which yielded bitter water. 

The aneroid at Sesebani showed a fall of 1 50 feet 
from Dagabur, so that its elevation is a little under 
3,000 feet.* Grass is scarce there, though less so 
than at Dagabur, and the soil is similarly dry and 
dusty. There were some very fine trees along the 
river bank and elsewhere, and the bush generally is 
feirly thick. 

On December 20th, the day after our arrival, 
Ogilvy came in from Dagaha Mado, being en route for 
En, to inspect and report on the water supply there. 
Basha Balina and a small Abyssinian escort were with 
him, and they reported that Fituarari Gabri, with an 
escort of 300 men, had arrived within two hours' 
march, that 5,000 Abyssinians were streaming in 
driblets in our direction, and that there was plenty of 

^ The Pricis of Infirmation on SomaHiand gives the height of 
Sesebani as 39240 feet, but I think this most be too high. 



Ii8 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

rain-water in the clayey bed of the Fafan River 
between here and Dagaha Mado. 

Ogilvy further told us that the Colonel had written 
to DufF instructing him and me to proceed to Dagaha 
Mado, so that although the Colonel's letter had not 
yet come to hand, we decided to leave at once. 

We struck our tents without delay, leaving the 
outer flies and all superfluous kit behind, and left 
Sesebani at 3 p.m. with our servants and syces, an 
escort of three Somalis, and an Abyssinian guide. 
Five camels, five mules, and a pony made up the 
caravan, and we carried ten days' rations for ourselves 
and the men, with two water tanks of 12^ gallons 
capacity each. We halted about an hour after sunset, 
having marched a great part of the way through 
a particularly pretty, park-like country, and slept in 
the open after a dinner of chopped aoul, rice, ration 
biscuits, jam and figs. 

The next morning (21st) we were oflFat six o'clock, 
the way lying over a grassy and shrubby veldt. After 
a time we reached Coralis Birdaale and came upon 
a camp of Abyssinians under Balambaras Chitee, 
upon whom we called and salaamed, exchanging notes 
and civilities. He could not tell us exactly how many 
men he had ; he thought there were between three 
and four hundred, but some were coming in, some 
going on, some getting grass, some doing this and 
some that, so that one could not be surprised at his 
uncertainty. From the number of tents scattered 
about, bordering the channel in which the water 



MARCH TO DAGAHA MADO 119 

lodged, there did not appear to us to be so many as 
the Balambaras thought. 

The Abyssinians had divided each of the pools 
at Coralis Birdaale into two parts by means of a few 
thorn branches struck across the middle, and the 
drinking water for the men was obtained on one side 
and that for the animals on the other. Some of the 
animals waded in for their watering and some were 
watered from drinking vessels on the bank, with the 
result that a lot of the water was wasted. Washing 
was done on the bank close to the drinking water, and 
most of the washings trickled back again into the pool, 
from which, of course, we had to replenish our water 
tanks. 

We left the Balambaras's camp at i p.m. and 
marched in sweltering heat and amid much dust until 
shortly after dark, when we came across an Abyssinian 
camp under Fituarari Dusta. We halted about three- 
quarters of a mile away, at 6.45 p.m., and the 
Fituarari sent over to say that he would be glad to 
see us and hear the news, so that Duff and I, much 
against our inclinations, had to retrace our steps to 
his camp, with the guide leading. We gossiped for 
a while and then returned to our own camp and to 
dinner, escorted, perforce, by fourteen armed Abys- 
sinians. We bivouacked again in the open, and 
slept, as usual, like doormats. 

On the 22 nd we marched from six o'clock until 
nine, and then halted to give the mules time to graze 
and ourselves time to have a biscuit and a tin of 



I20 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

potted meat with a cup of tea from Duff's " billy." 
We marched again at 2 p.m., and reached Dagaht 
Mado at four o'clock. 

The distance from Sesebani to Dagaha Mado is 
from fifty-seven to sixty miles, and for the last day 
and a half of the journey the track had been over 
loose, soft ground, with the result that we were 
enveloped in clouds of dust nearly all the time. 

There was an Abyssinian camp of about 150 men 
under Fituarari Kolassi at Dagaha Mado, and we 
found Fairfax's and Citerni's tents there, pitched on 
the south-west side of the SuUuP River bed, over- 
looking the wells from a height of about forty feet. 
We had our tents pitched beside theirs and were 
soon enjoying tea with milk and bread, a combination 
to which we had been strangers since leaving Sesebani. 
Dining in a standing camp after a march always seems 
like a killing of the fatted calf, and the stoical 
reader must not resent these references to meals. 
They are interesting things, especially when a good 
one happens to come along to vary a diet of ration 
biscuit and potted meat — notwithstanding that those 
articles are of a high nutritive quality. Our sleep 
was not disturbed by the howling of the hyaenas — they 
howled, but we heeded them not. The mysteries of 
Amharic did not invite to the consumption of mid- 
night oil, and one had not been sufficiently enamoured 
of the country's splendour, as revealed in the course 

^ The SuUul joins the Fafan in the district between Sesebani and 
Dagaha Mado. 



RAMSAY-FAIRFAX 1 2 1 

of the march, to want to sit up to pen a description 
of its beauties, notwithstanding that it had been 
• a march in the company of such a splendid fellow as 
Duff. The consolation of a good sound sleep was 
what we wanted, and what we sought for early and to 
good purpose. 

Ramsay-Fairfax, who up till then had been in 
charge at Dagaha Mado, was formerly a lieutenant in 
the navy, but as there was not fighting enough going 
on to suit him he retired from the service and went 
through the South African war as Captain in the 30th 
battalion of the Imperial Yeomanry. Afterwards he 
joined Mr. Millar, the American explorer, on his 
voyage down the Blue Nile ; and, finally, hearing of 
this Expedition, he made his way to Abyssinia and 
brought two Colt guns with him. His services were 
accepted by Colonel Rochfort, and, if I may anticipate 
history a little, by a great scramble, on our return to 
the coast, he got into the Expedition sent to attack 
lUig and took a part at the capture of that place. 
What he will do next is in the womb of time, but of 
a surety he will do something. 



CHAPTER VI 



CHAPTER VI 

Dagaha Mado— The wells — Method of sounding — Passage of the 
Abyssinian army through Dagaha Mado — A swallowed leech — 
News from the Colonel — The Abyssinians and their animals — 
Departure from Dagaha Mado — Instructions for the advance — 
The Staff — Duff — Sergeant Tubb— Somali women — Somalis and 
Abyssinians — Shooting — My syce — Sesebani — March to Gabride* 
hari — En, Aggal, Doohne, Warandab, Gabridehari. 

T^ AGAHA MADO (///. Black Rock), like Sesebani 
and Dagabur, appears on the map as a village, 
but it is now only the name given to a collection of 
wells used by natives in their moving karias. There 
are no large shady trees as at Sesebani, no grass on 
the loose sandy ground, and the bush around is quite 
open. Apart from the wells the country is waterless 
over a wide area, and produces nothing beyond the 
thorn trees. It is three hundred feet higher than 
Sesebani, and the air is most salubrious. The mid- 
day temperature during our stay ranged from 90° to 
99^ F., and the early morning temperature from 46** 
to s^"". In the river bed there are fourteen wells sunk 
through the rock twenty feet or more, their shafts 
being about three feet in diameter. Most of them 
arc funnel-shaped at the mouth and are slippery from 
the presence of the sand, so that it is difficult to see 

"5 



126 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

down the shaft. In taking a sounding a native creeps 
down the mouth and plants his feet straddle-legged 
across the top of the shaft and lets down the sounding 
line, which consisted with us of a twisted string 
weighted at one end with a couple of cartridges, and 
marked with pieces of loose woven bandage at five-, 
eight-, ten-, twelve- and fifteen-feet distances from 
the lower end. The native judged when the bottom 
was reached by the sense of touch, and we by when 
the line ceased to be taut. The man counted the 
pieces of bandage showing above water, and the 
record of the depth was made accordingly. The 
wells were tested every day, so that the strain upon 
them could be properly regulated. On the day of 
our arrival, counting from above downwards along 
the river bed, they contained I2|^, 6^, 3, 17, 7, 12, 
^o, 7, 6^, 2, 2, o, 7 and 12 feet of water respectively. 
In addition to No. 12 being dry the water in No. 14 
contained sulphuretted hydrogen, and was not used. 
The water was fairly clear on being drawn, but a 
considerable sediment soon formed which clogged 
the Berkfeld filters. 

DufF, Citerni and I remained at Dagaha Mado 
from December 22nd to January 3rd, and we saw the 
whole of the Abyssinian force pass through on its 
way south, with the exception of the small parties we 
had met on the way from Sesebani and of a few 
stragglers who came on behind. Our duties were to 
regulate and supervise the distribution of water and 
to push on the troops as rapidly as was expedient. 



A SWALLOWED LEECH 127 

Fituarari Kolassi^ left for Sesebani on December 
24th, and Fairfax went on the same day to supervise 
and report on the water supply at Cordis Birdaalc, 
which place, it will be remembered, lies between 
Dagaha Mado and Sesebani, somewhat nearer the 
latter place. The Colonel and Baird arrived from 
Farso the same day, at 9 a.m., and left again in the 
afternoon for Sesebani, but not before Baird had left 
us twenty-four tins of jam, four tins of milk and two 
bottles of whisky, the last articles in particular being 
for the delectation of the Abyssinian chiefs, who have 
a marked liking for the " fire water." To my joy 
Baird brought also my '303 Mauser-Metford sport- 
ing rifle. 

With the Colonel came a patient who was suffering 
from what was, to me, a novel and interesting com- 
plaint. He was a camel-man and said that in drinking 
water some twenty days previously he had swallowed 
a leech, which he was sure was still fixed in his throat. 
The natives stated that it was quite a common thing 
for leeches to get into many of the drinking troughs, 
so that the accident was quite a possible one. The 
man swallowed with difficulty and said he felt some- 
thing " choking him *' far down on the left side. He 
kept on spitting blood at intervals and complained of 
feeling weak and ill, which he certainly appeared to 
be. On examining his throat I failed to see anything 
of the leech, but was quite prepared from his con- 
fident account to accept his statement that it was still 
^ For an explanation of the rank of Abyssinian ofHcers, see p. 185. 



128 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

lodged in his gullet. Various methods were resorted 
to in order to secure its eviction, and after some 
initial failures, it was dislodged and disgorged, 
proving to be full of blood and about two inches in 
length. The bleeding soon stopped, the man was 
jubilant at getting rid of the intruder, and proceeded 
to eat and drink freely to make up for lost time. 

Whether it was due to fairy tales this man or his 
friends had told, or to a general faith in the powers of 
a European, cannot be said, but we were afterwards 
consulted on, and expected to cure, all manner of 
physical disabilities, such as flat feet, contracted hands, 
squints, knock-knees, bandy legs, old scars and such- 
like. 

Late at night on December 24th Gerasmatch 
Asheety and a large party of Abyssinians, with many 
animals, arrived in camp, and the next day their place 
was taken by Kenezmatch Wadahjo and his body- 
guard, who arrived from Farso in advance of his 
main body. 

Duff was off duty on the 25th with a shivering 
fit, accompanied by pains in the back, headache and 
a temperature of 104°. He fancied, no doubt cor- 
rectly, that he had caught a chill in the night, for we 
had left the inner flies of the tents at Sesebani and 
the wind blew somewhat strongly through his tent. 
Citerni generously insisted that he and DuflF should 
change tents, and after twenty-four hours' quiet in a 
darkened cool tent, with light liquid diet and proper 
medical treatment. Duff was himself again, although 



NEWS FROM THE COLONEL 129 

feeling somewhat pulled down. The same day 
Kenezmatch Wadahjo was down with an attack of 
fever, but in his case it was some weeks before he 
recovered. 

On the 27th we received a letter from the Colonel 
at Sesebani, passing back the news that he had received 
from Ogilvy and Fituarari Gabri, who were with the 
advance parties and had then moved from En, 
twenty-two miles south of Sesebani, to Coralis,^ a 
place thirty miles farther south, between Aggal and 
Warandab. The Colonel's letter said : — 

" The advance depends on there being sufficient 
water at Gabridehari and Gorahai to concentrate the 
force, and until this is ascertained no troops should be 
allowed to pass Coralis Birdaale whilst the water there 
is sufficient. The advance, however, should be con- 
tinued to that place, where the parties can safely 
collect under instructions already issued, as I estimate 
that the water there is sufficient for a large force of 
men and animals for the next week ; but it is rapidly 
drying up. Whilst it lasts Fairfax should sec that it 
is utilised to the fullest extent, but should the supply 
fail before definite orders of future movements have 
been received, he can then pass on the troops to 
Sesebani. All officers have authority to stop the 
advance at any time, should it be found necessary, and 
it would be preferable to do this rather than to run the 
risk of having to make a retrograde movement which, 

^ This Cordis should not be confused with Coralis Birdaale between 
Sesebani and Dagaha Mado, or with Coralis between Dagabur and 
Sesebani. 
K 



I30 WITH THE ABTSSIMANS IN SOMAULAND 

probably could not be retrieved, and which would 
lead to congestion in the rear. I desire, if possible, to 
keep Sesebani free from troops, as in the event of 
retirement the supply there will be required for the 
troops now south of that place. 

^^I proceed south at once, and shall send definite 
orders, which must be passed on without delay. In 
the event of retirement, which should only be com- 
menced after sufficient time has elapsed to get the 
orders through to the officers in the rear, the troops 
should as far as possible be passed back in succession 
in the reverse order to their advance, and no halts are 
to be permitted." 

On the 28 th Kenezmatch Wadahjo and his staff left. 
During his stay the force under his command kept 
arriving and departing in batches, so that it was very 
difficult accurately to estimate their numbers, and it 
was almost impossible to get a characteristic photo- 
graph of the parties as they went through. Kicking 
up the dust sky-high, they came and went, in driblets 
and odds and ends of parties, like batches of refugees, 
fugitives, or emigrants, and it was about as difficult 
to bring them to a focus in a Kodak as it would have 
been to photograph a flight of locusts ; and their 
movements were of a similarly nondescript character. 
Nevertheless, they were a businesslike, bellicose, grim- 
visaged host, and they appeared to have almost 
innumerable donkeys and mules — on an average, 
probably, they had three per man. In their train 
also were a good many camels and several women. 




ABYSSINIANS STRAGGUNG INTO DAGAHA MADO. 




RIVKRBKD AND POOl,wS, 1£N. 



Page X31. 




\vivi:s AND THi:iR masti:r.s. 




SMri.INiV ('.AI,I,AS. 



Pnjjc I.j6. 



ABTSSINIANS AND THEIR ANIMALS 131 

Their management of the animals and attention to 
them were most admirable. On arrival in camp the 
Habshi ^ (Abyssinian) immediately ofF-saddles ; the 
mules, donkeys, and camels have a roll in the dust, 
are taken to water, and afterwards turned loose to 
graze on what food there is to be had, whilst someone 
is detailed to look after them. The men then eat 
their "dargnosh" or powdered biscuit, and drink 
their water under what shade they can find, after 
which a number of them go off to cut grass for the 
mules — and they may have to go four or five miles to 
find it in sufficient quantity, as was the case at Dagaha 
Mado — returning to camp later on, carrjring a huge 
truss on their heads or shoulders. At night-time 
there is a second meal of ^^ dargnosh," and afterwards 
those who have tents, which they pitched as soon as 
possible after off-saddling on arrival, turn into them, 
while the rest sleep under a selected tree, with their 
animals tied up close by. 

At Wardair I saw the men dressing the sores on 
the mules' backs. The method they adopted there 
was first carefully to clean the raw surface with water 
and the fingers, and then to rub in thick fat or tallow, 
which is obtained from the fat tails of the sheep and 
which is preserved for this purpose. The dressing 
served to keep off the flies and maggots, and the 
wounds commonly healed with fair rapidity be- 
neath it. 

The wells at Dagaha Mado stood the drain upon 

^ Habashe, mixed — in relation to their mixed racial origin. 



.»....^UL..*«:.*iVr^A ■ *^... ^-^fel, 



132 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

them very well. If a large force of, say, from five to 
six hundred men, with their animals, came into camp 
and halted for the night, an aggregate fall of perhaps 
five feet of water would be registered the next day ; 
but if the arrivals were small and did not exceed a 
couple of hundred men and their animals, the water 
would rapidly regain its former depth. 

On January 2nd the last large body of Abyssinians 
came in under Gerazmatch Gamadoo, and accordingly 
the next day we were able to strike camp and move 
south, for the Colonel had already contrived to ensure 
an advance to Gabridehari ; and it was therefore most 
important that we should push on as rapidly as 
possible if we were effectively to co-operate with the 
British forces. Alone and Wakeman were coming 
on with a caravan from Farso, and there were a few 
stragglers still to come up. There was also a caravan 
of forty-one camels and nineteen men, which had 
been sent back to bring on extra stores that had 
been despatched from Harrar by Messrs. Goolamally, 
Mohamedaly & Co. ; but, with these exceptions, all 
the forces were then south of Dagaha Mado. 

The Colonel's memorandum in which he sketched 
our advance was as follows : — 

" Dated Sesebanij December 26/A, 1903. 

"Lieutenant Ogilvy reports sufficient water at 
Gabridehari to concentrate the force. The advance, 
therefore, should be continued to that place by the 
despatch of one Chief daily from each post. The 
following itinerary of the road south of Sesebani is 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ADVANCE 133 

issued for guidance, and should be explained by 
Captain Dunn (now at Sesebani) to the Chiefs. No 
halts are permitted. 

" Sesebani to Tug Fafan : Distance for mules, 
three hours ; water should be carried in tanks. 
But there is some water in holes about 200 
yards up stream from where the road crosses 
the Tug, and there is good grazing. 

" Tug Fafan to En : Distance 2 J hours for mules ; 
water in holes on banks of Tug, and grazing. 
There is also water close by at Hanaleh and 
BiYA Kaboba. 

" En to Agoal : 2f hours for mules. There is 
some water in wells on banks of Tug, and 
good grazing. 

^^ Aggal to Galhadali : Five hours for mules. 
There is good pool of water in Tug between 
Coralis^ (eight miles south of Aggal) and Gal- 
hadali, and men should proceed along the bed 
of the Tug to find it. Three days* water in 
tanks should be carried from Galhadali. There 
are also some water holes at Elleli, which is 
I J hours for mules south of Galhadali. There 
is grazing at Galhadali. 

" Galhadali to Warandab : 5^ hours for mules. 
There is some water in the wells at Warandab, 
also grazing there. 

" Warandab to Gabridehari : 7J hours for mules. 
No water is reported on the road. Should be 
done in a night march." 

^ The pool of water which existed at Coralis was dry shortly 
after this date. 



134 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

The Colonel and Baird at that time were on their 
way from Warandab to Gabridehari, where Ogilvy 
already was ; Dunn was at Sesebani, and Fairfax at 
Coralis Birdaale. 

The functions of our party may perhaps be 
familiarly set forth in tabular form : — 

Colonel A. N. Rochfort Sirdar. 
Major Alone . . Transport officer and inter- 
preter. 

Diplomatist. 

Shikari^ and scout. 

Surgeon and zoologist. 

Sapper. 



J. L. Baird 

Captain A. A. Duff . 

Captain H. N. Dunn . 

Lieutenant Ogilvy 

Ramsay - Fairfax, ex- 
lieutenant, R.N. 

W. A. M. Wakeman . 

Self • . . . 

Sergeants Tubb and 
Shepherd 

Capitano C. Citerni . 



Warrior. 

Assistant surgeon. 
Unknown quantity. 

Handymen and indispensable. 
Representing the Italian 

Agency with the Abyssinian 

army. 



It would be invidious to make comparisons 
amongst such first-rate comrades, but now and then 
I may be permitted to offer an insufficient tribute to 
one or other. At this point I should like to state 
the simple fact that Duff, in my estimation, is the 
best man to make a " bunderbuss,** and to work 



1 Tracker. 



SOMALI WOMEN 135 

it out in detail, that I have ever met. He is also an 
animated " ready reckoner," and beside, whilst regu- 
lating and supervising the water supply to the Hab- 
shis and to the Somalis, he was the long-headed and 
singularly impartial Lord Chief Justice of Dagaha 
Mado. An out-and-out sportsman is Duff, with a 
wonderfully retentive memory, and stored with all 
sorts of interesting and stirring material. He is 
a fellow campaigner of the best sort, and the debt of 
gratitude that I personally owe him for handing me 
over his Mannlicher and keeping me supplied with 
cartridges for nearly three months, is one that cannot 
easily be repaid. 

Here also let me say that Sergeant F. Tubb, of the 
1st Hampshires, is ^^game to the backbone,*' and 
made of that special non-commissioned-officer stuff 
which is the most important ingredient in the pith 
and marrow of the British Army. 

Holding the mirror up to nature in this generous 
manner leads to observations on very different in- 
dividuals, and one is bound to say that the older 
Somali women have, unfortunately, every reason to 
avoid the use of such a toilet requisite. The children, 
like the young generally, are often pretty, but the 
women, with their rough, hard life, appear to under- 
go a warping and defacing process as they get older. 
They acquire corrugated skins and forbidding coun- 
tenances, and present a sort of toad-like appearance, 
becoming indeed a hideous distortion of the female 
figure. 



136 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

Both individually and as a race the Somalis appear 
to be cleaner than the Abyssinians. Being Moham- 
medans they are teetotalers, which the Abyssinians 
certainly are not. They will drink camel's milk in 
unlimited quantities, whilst the Abyssinians will rarely 
touch it, although it is really very good, notwithstand- 
ing that, being less rich in fats than cow's milk, it does 
not yield cream or butter. One might think that 
with one class that would not touch milk, and another 
that would leave your wines and spirits alone, you 
had the materials for a perfect mess personnel. No- 
thing, however, could be further from the truth. In 
the Somali you have a receptacle for all the camel's 
milk he can hold, whilst to the Abyssinian wines, 
spirits, and sweetened lime-juice are always welcome 
cordials, and to both of them jams, sugar, rice, flour, 
butter, tea, coffee, and things of that kind never come 
amiss. Neither of them exhibits a fine discrimination 
between meum and tuum^ and they are adepts at spirit- 
ing away commodities, from a bottle of whisky, a pot 
of jam, or a sack of sugar to a batch of sheep. So 
economical and considerate were our cooks, that a 
gerenuk shot by Citerni on the 25th, although an 
unsavoury tasting antelope at the best, was still being 
served up for us in some form or other — minced, 
curried, roast, boiled, fried, or devilled — as late as 
the 29th, whilst a party of Habshis coming in the 
same day fell upon eight of our sheep and killed, 
cooked, and gobbled them up — the animals being 
duly reported as " missing '* ! 



SHOOTING 137 

Speaking of gerenuk reminds me of a baby member 
of the species that I obtained from a native at Sese- 
bani, and for which I purchased a goat to act as 
foster-mother. With a little coaxing the suckling 
was performed well enough, but unless it was seen to 
by myself there was no certainty that it would be 
regularly carried out, for my Somali servant was a 
fair representative of his kind, and was not to be 
trusted. Given a good headman in camp, the Somalis 
will frequently make excellent servants, but leave one 
to himself and he will, as a rule, form a first-rate 
example of a thorough-going "waster." There are 
no doubt exceptions to this rule, and there is no 
desire to malign the race ; but, all in all, if you leave 
a Somali to his own interpretation of his duty, you 
may be quite sure that it will not be your inter- 
pretation. 

I was very unsuccessful with the rifle at Dagaha 
Mado, and was specially unfortunate on one or two 
occasions in losing badly wounded game after spend- 
ing days in hunting for them. On December 29th I 
started oflF with two boys at 5 a.m., and, when 
about five miles from camp, caught sight of gerenuk 
and an oryx in the bush some distance oflF. Directing 
one boy to take charge of the mule, and telling the 
other to lie down and not to move till beckoned, I 
wriggled through the grass for 300 or 400 yards, and 
got within 200 yards of my objective and then lay 
still, hoping that the oryx would expose himself by 
moving out from behind sortie bushes which partly 



138 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

hid him. After about twenty minutes the muleboy, 
who had grown impatient, and was feeling uneasy 
at being left alone unarmed, came hurrying up with 
the mule. The game, needless to say, was off like 
a shot, and it is not desirable to print my remarks to 
the muleboy. Give a Somali a gun and he is perfectly 
happy in his sense of safety. Whether you have 
given him a cartridge or not is of no consequence. 

On New Year's Day a good chance of a shot was 
similarly thrown away by my syce, and to make 
matters worse it was after I had lost two wounded 
animals. About six miles from camp I hit a gerenuk 
with my first shot, but he succeeded in hobbling away, 
and we could not get near him again. We followed 
his tracks a long way and eventually lost them, as 
was only too easily done, over some rough stony 
ground and in the thorny bush. Later on I badly 
wounded another fine male gerenuk with an end-on 
shot at 260 yards. He left two pools of blood, but 
we never caught sight of him again, although we 
followed his tracks for over two hours. Luck seemed 
to change at last, however, for three or four miles off 
I saw what at first I took to be a herd of aoul, but 
which, after making a long circuit, I found was a 
pack of Clarke's gazelles or diptag, which are rare 
animals and hard to get. After much creeping and 
wriggling I came within 250 yards of them, and was 
waiting my time for a good broadside shot when 
suddenly the whole pack made off like wildfire. On 
turning round I discovered my intelligent syce behind 



SESEBANI 139 

mc presenting a semi-decapitated appearance — that is 
to say, his head seemed to be hidden behind his 
mouth, which was wide open. He had grown tired 
of waiting and, raising his shoulders, had craned his 
neck forward to have a look, opening his mouth to 
its widest possible extent at the same time. It was 
one more result of having an untrained native as 
your shikari. 

It is time, however, to leave these reminiscences 
and to resume the record of our movements. As 
already explained, we were able to leave Dagaha 
Mado on January 2nd, and the caravan, with DufF, 
Citerni, and myself, started off at 3.30 p.m. and 
marched by the light of the moon until 1 1.30, with the 
exception of a halt at seven o'clock. The next morn- 
ing we were off again at 5.30, and reached Coralis 
Birdaale at ten o'clock, in time for breakfast with 
Fairfax and Rose. Later in the day DufF and I rode 
on to Sesebani, and the rest of the party, with the 
caravan, followed the next morning. 

It should be explained that Lieutenant Ivor Rose, 
of the 3rd Battalion of the 60th Rifles, who at this 
point joined our party, had been in the country for 
some time with Captain R. G. Munn, of the 3rd Sikhs, 
A.D.C. to General Egerton, endeavouring to raise a 
troop of tribal horse in the Ogaden country. The 
levies, however, proved to be unsatisfactory and the 
attempt was abandoned. Rose remained with us, and 
at Sesebani we found Munn, then on his way back, 
via Hargeisa, to rejoin the Somaliland Field Force. 



140 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

At Sesebani, during January 4th, 5th and 6th, we 
rearranged the various stores so as to enable us to 
march as light as possible. All surplus stores were 
left there, together with two weeks' supplies for all 
Europeans, as well as 1,000 lb. of rice, 500 lb. of 
jowari, 300 lb. of dates, and 120 lb. of ghee. Two 
gun-bearers, 4 scouts, 2 camel-men and 2 grass- 
cutters, all armed with rifles, 7 mules, 9 transport 
and 4 milk camels were also left behind, the whole 
under the charge of Sergeant Shepherd. 

On January 7th Rose, Fairfax, Citerni and I left 
at 6.30 a.m. for Gabridehari^ with 108 men, 35 rifles, 
2 Colt guns and a caravan consisting of 129 loaded 
camels,^ 12 mules, 3 horses, 12 sheep and a goat. 
DuflF and Dunn were to remain a few days longer 
at Sesebani. 

A short distance south of Sesebani there is a 
sheikh's tomb to the east of the road, and there was 
a solitary patch of jowari cultivation to the west of 
the road in the same neighbourhood. We halted at 
noon in the Tug Fafan, and resumed the march at 
three o'clock, reaching En, twenty-two miles from 
Sesebani, at 6.45 p.m. Most of the road lay over 

^ If the map be consulted on which the line of our advance is 
shown, it will be found that the Tug Jerrer and the Tug Milmil con- 
verge m the neighbourhood of Sesebani, and thereafter our way as far 
as Gorahai lay, roughly, along the Tug Fafan. 

2 The loads carried by the camels were made up as follows : 
26 small twelve-gallon water tanks ; 1 8 small eight-gallon water 
tanks ; 4 water boxes ; 46 bags of rice ; 22 bags of dates ; 7^ bags of 
flour ; 1 6 tins of ghee ; 2 treasury chests ; 2 Colt guns with tripods. 




s 






Pi 



WARANDAB 141 

open, dry, and almost level plains, covered with 
parched grass, between mountain ranges on either 
side, and we saw large numbers of cattle and camels 
in different places. On the 8th we marched at 4.15 a.m. 
and arrived at Aggal, twelve miles distant, at 8.15, 
where we had to halt for the remainder of the day, as 
we were able to fill only eight of our smaller water 
tanks from the one shallow well that existed in the 
Tug there, and had to send back the rest of the 
water camels to refill the other tanks at En, where 
there was a fairly good supply. I have never seen 
the aoul so tame as they were at Aggal, and in one 
place approached to within twenty yards of a female 
and her two young when quite in the open. 

We left Aggal at 4.15 the following morning, 
January 9th, and halted at eight o'clock at Doorhie, 
ten miles farther on, where we found some water in 
holes in the river bed and one small pool. Whilst 
there the good news came to us from the Colonel 
that the advance could be continued beyond Gabride- 
hari, but that it was not expected that we should be 
able to proceed farther than Wardair, In the afternoon 
we continued the march for three hours, and halted 
for the night at six o'clock, bivouacking in the open. 
On the loth we left our zareba at 3.15 a.m. and 
reached Warandab at nine o'clock, halting there till the 
afternoon. We found a little grazing for the mules 
and about fifty shallow wells or holes either in the 
bank or in the bed of the Tug, most of which were 
dry. A few, however, contained some inches of 



142 WITH THE ABY^INIANS IN SOMAULAND 

muddy water of about the consistency of pea soup. 
There had been a great many Abyssinians passing 
through, so that doubtless the water was lower than 
usual at that time of the year ; but there appeared to 
be little likelihood of the supply being of much 
value, even in the absence of this special demand. 
Warandab is twenty-five miles from Doohrie and 
forty-seven miles from En ; the road lies through a 
very dry and barren tract of country, with little or 
no grass, but is for the most part even, inclining 
generally downhill. The waddy thorn tree, with its 
smooth silver-green bark and black bulbous thorns, 
grows particularly freely along the road after Aggal, 
and at Warandab it forms very dense thickets. 

To the south of Warandab the grazing improves, 
and we passed some patches of jowari cultivation. 
The trees also grow to a larger size, and we came 
upon some kinds that we had not previously met 
with, particularly "higlu," "harreeri," and ^^kalangal,*' 
all of which are large-growing thorn trees. 

We had an afternoon march of three hours on the 
loth, and on the nth we were off at 3.15 a.m., 
reaching Gabridehari at half-past ten. 



CHAPTER VII 



CHAPTER VII 

Gabridehari — The march resumed — Beribu — Shooting — Adeleh — The 
trees and water — Gerlogubi — The wells — Evidence of a higher 
civilisation — An Abyssinian opinion of the country — Orders horn 
the Colonel — Operations of the Somaliland Field Force — Jidballi 
— March to Wardair — The mails — Expedition to Gumburru — 
The battle-field and Cobbe's zareba 

/"^ABRIDEHARI is ninety-seven miles from Sese- 
bani and twenty-eight miles south of Warandab, 
A great part of the road from Warandab is very 
heavy for marching, as the ground is loose and sandy ; 
indeed, what with all our own party and the crowds 
of Abyssinians going in the same direction, we were 
enveloped most of the time in clouds of dust The 
bush en route is well grown, and dense in some places, 
the trees being of the usual varieties, except that the 
waddy practically disappears after Warandab. 

There is a fall of a thousand feet from Sesebani 
to Gabridehari, as has already been pointed out, and 
we felt the nights to be much closer and warmer than 
heretofore. The whole of the ground about the 
wells in the river bed is strewn with boulders and 
loose stones. Great herds of camels came to water at 
the wells, and there was at that time a good supply of 

L 145 



^\ 



146 WITH ISfEjABtSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

water of a brackish taste. Our tents were pitched 
under large shady higlu trees, and we found the place 
to abound in camel ticks of a huge size and vicious 
habit. During our halt there on January 12th, we 
bought two transport camels for Citerni — to replace 
two he had lost — three eating camels for the men, and 
six goats for ourselves, at a total cost of Rs.345. 
During a halt on the next day*s march three milch 
camels (hasha) were purchased for Rs.50 each, in- 
cluding their young (nirikta). 

As we were coming to Gabridehari we saw my 
terrier bitch, Bessie, for the last time. She had 
followed Rose into the bush, and going off on some 
scent or another had got astray. We did our best to 
find her, but could discover no trace of her, and it 
was quite likely that she fell a victim to the leopards. 

Gabridehari was left at 4 a.m. on January 13th, 
and we marched about fourteen miles, halting at 8.30 
at Beribu near the Tug Fafan, where we found water 
from recent rains in some pools in the river bed, in 
addition to that in the wells, in two of which latter it 
was very salt. The route was chiefly along a wide, 
well-trodden, dusty track, over an open plain, dotted 
with sparsely scattered small thorn bushes, and we 
passed several karias, or villages, and some herds of 
camels. 

The Colonel in passing had established a small zare- 
baed post at Beribu, and we left there a Congo chest 
for Wakeman. One large and several small Abyssinian 
camps were there at that time, and the forces were 



ADELEh *. .• 147 

'%• 

crowding in. On the way we had l)een overtaken 
by several hundreds of them, and many more came 
in during our halt. After we had been off-saddled 
a short time a soldier came in with some dollars 
tied up in a corner of his tobe, and said that he had 
been sent by some of the Abyssinian Chiefs to buy 
wine from us. We sent back a reliable servant with 
a bottle of champagne, telling him to offer it as 
a present if the man's tale turned out to be true — 
which it did. The Chiefs sent word that they were 
coming over to visit us, but we left on our after- 
noon's march before they arrived. The Fafan bed 
was crossed at the outset, and the way was over an 
open grassy plain,^ on which we saw several packs of 
aoul and many large herds of camels, which latter the 
natives were hurriedly driving off at our approach. 
We halted for the night at 6 p.m. at the edge of the 
bush veldt, where there was good grazing, but no 
water. Our bag of aoul, as meat for the day, was 
four head to Rose, one to Fairfax, and three to myself. 
On January 14th we left our halting-place by the 
failing light of the waning moon, and marched twelve 
miles through a bushy country to a well called 
Adeleh, some twenty miles from Beribu, when we 
made the morning's halt. On the way we passed 
some large -leafed adad bushes, and found that 
chairin, with its large pink -and -white fluffy balls 
and large coarsely fibrous pods, which had been 

^ It may be pomted out that the large standing camp subsequently 
formed at Gorahai was on a part of this plain. 



148 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

hitherto a rare bush, became very abundant, and the 
place bristled with the thorns of sarman, which, 
however, were much shorter and less bulbous in that 
district than in many others. 

We started from Adeleh at 3 p.m., and after a 
march of about five miles came upon a single well 
containing a little water, and a quarter of a mile 
farther on we found two more wells, one of them 
fifty yards beyond the other. Both of these wells arc 
about thirty-five feet deep, and the farther one con- 
tained a plentiful supply of muddy water. There 
was no grazing there, and the bush was very thick, so 
we watered the horses and mules, filled our tanks, 
and pushed on till 6 p.m. The first brew of tea from 
the water of our refilled tanks had the flavour of a 
stagnant village duckpond, but it was acceptable. 

On the 15th we began to load up at 5.15 a.m., 
started oflF at six o'clock, and marched till 10.15, 
when we halted in a place where there was fairly 
good grazing, and took our morning's siesta under a 
goorah tree. The way was over the usual red sandy 
earth, and it was easier going and less dusty than any 
part of the march since leaving Gabridehari. We 
passed patches of the long coarse " durr " grass, and 
where we halted in the evening, after a three hours' 
afternoon march, there was good "gurgurra** or 
short grass. The thorn bushes were the same as 
before, except that goomer largely replaced chairin. 
In one place I noticed a tree apparently without a 
leaf, which was covered with perfectly lovely flowers 




BRITISH OFFICERS. (iERLOGUBI. 




A MI D-DAY HALT. 



Page X49. 




o 

'A 

< 



O 
H 



.4 



THE TREES AND WATER 149 

of virgin whiteness, fringed with delicate lace-like 
sepals of a similar white. The natives said it was 
called "salilmah," and the flowers appeared to fade 
by noon-time, 

Gerlogubi (6* 51' 45", Ogilvy) is about sixty-three 
miles from Gabridehari according to the line of our 
march, which was south-eastwards for the first fifteen 
miles to Beribu, and thereafter bore away from the 
Tug Fafan almost directly eastwards, and the aneroid 
showed a rise of 250 feet. The whole place is no- 
thing but an extensive rocky and sandy plain, dotted 
with goorah trees and "jellajrto*' scrub, and riddled 
with wells sunk from sixty to seventy -five feet 
through the sandstone and conglomerate limestone 
rock, and in some cases apparently excavated at the 
bottom into cisterns or reservoir chambers. The 
wonder is how and by whom they were made. They 
clearly are the work of people in a far higher stage of 
civilisation than the present inhabitants of these 
regions. They yielded a cool and fairly clear water. 
The shafts vary from three to four feet in diameter, 
and many of them were the homes of large bevies of 
bats, which would fly out during the daytime if one 
cast a stone down the well, and at night-time the air 
was thick with them whirling about. They are a 
small variety, with large ears, pin-hole eyes, -peculiarly 
depressed noses and beautifully soft fur. Guinea- 
fowl and dig-dig existed in considerable numbers 
about Gerlogubi, and several laughing and barking 
hyaenas hung round the camp at night. 



I50 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

A guard of loo Abyssinians had been left over 
the wells there whilst the parties moved through to 
Wardair, at which place a considerable force had now 
assembled. One of the Abyssinian guard at Gerlo- 
gubi gave me the benefit of his opinion of the 
country. He said he thought that it was intended 
for " infidels " and " Somalis," and that " if it had been 
intended for Christians it would have been a land 
rich in crops and full of rivers like Abyssinia ; alto- 
gether, it was about on a par with its inhabitants '* ; 
and I am bound to say that I agreed with him to a 
great extent. One did not become more enamoured 
of this part of Somaliland as the line of our advance 
grew longer and longer, especially in view of the un- 
certainty which prevailed as to the amount of supplies 
that the Abyssinians actually had with them. The 
advanced body of the Abyssinians at Wardair, under 
the Colonel and Fituarari Gabri, was now some 365 
miles from Harrar, and nearly 200 miles from Sese- 
bani. There was a great scarcity of grazing for the 
animals, and the country provided nothing that we 
wanted. 

Our arrival at Gerlogubi was duly reported to the 
Colonel, and on January 17th he sent me a letter, 
which is quoted from as explaining the situation up 
to that time : — 

" 1 think you have all done well to get so far, and, 
from what we hear, this move of the Abyssinians has 
deterred the Mullah from coming to this place. I 
have heard from the G.O.C. that he was attacking 



ORDERS FROM THE COLONEL 151 

the Mullah, or a part of his force, at Jidballi on the 
loth inst., and it was said that the enemy was holding 
that place in force, and intended to fight there. 
Jidballi is thirty-eight miles east of Badwein, which 
is near Eil Dab. On the morning of the 15th I 
sent from here two camel sowars and a mounted 
guide to Bohodtle, so think we ought to hear some- 
thing definite about the 22nd or 23rd if they get 
through. In the meantime, as the grass is very bad 
here, I think the bulk of the caravan had better 
remain at Gerlogubi. You had better come on here 
with a few medical stores for temporary use, and 
Dunn, when he arrives, if the situation is not then 
defined, can take charge at Gerlogubi. Wakeman 
will arrive with Alone probably before long. The 
British detached force evacuated Galadi on the 4th 
inst., but unless I see something worth going for I 
shall not ask the Abyssinians to go beyond this place. 
It is impossible to gauge their supply, but they have 
not been able to get any loot. I hope, however, that 
Alone will bring 200 camel loads of supply with him, 
as it would be no use going to Galadi unless we 
are prepared to stay there and to operate beyond if 
necessary." 

In connection with this letter from the Colonel it 
may be explained that it had been General £gerton*s 
object all along to prevent the Mullah getting away 
south-westwards, for example, by Wardair, or Galadi, 
or by the district between these places, since he would 
then have been in a country which was to a great 
extent outside the field of operations of either forces. 



152 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

With this purpose in view, a show of operations was 
made on the south of the Haud by the occupation of 
Galadi and by various other movements. It had been 
hoped that the Abyssinians would reach Galadi by 
the new year, and supplies had been got up to that 
place in anticipation of their arrival, but, as has been 
seen, the advanced bodies had barely reached Wardair 
by that time. Nevertheless, in consequence of the 
Abyssinian advance and of the operations of the 
Somaliland Field Force, it appeared that General 
Egerton*s object had to a great extent been achieved, 
for on December 19th a considerable body of the 
Mullah's forces had been located by Lieutenant-Colonel 
Kenna at Jidballi, which was apparently covering a 
withdrawal northwards across the Haud. General 
Egerton immediately commenced a concentration of 
his forces, withdrew the Galadi garrison, and was 
joined by General Manning and his command. In 
the meantime the Mullah's force at Jidballi had gone 
on increasing and now evidently consisted of his best 
fighting forces, and numbered somewhere between 
3,000 and 6,000 fighting men. 

General Egerton attacked them on January loth, 
and the Mullah's army was- defeated with heavy loss,^ 
leaving 688 dead on the field, and losing as many 
more in the pursuit by the mounted troops. We did 

^ The British losses in this action consisted of Captain J. R. 
Melland, r.a.m.c.» Lieutenant C. H. Bowden-Smith, and seventeen 
natives killed and nine British officers and twenty-nine natives 
wounded. 



MARCH TO WARDAIR 153 

not, of course, receive news of this event until a few 
days afterwards ; but it was not less necessary than 
before that our force should concentrate in the field of 
operations, so as to be ready to prevent the Mullah 
from doubling back on his tracks, or cut off any parties 
of stragglers that might make in the Wardair direc- 
tion, as, indeed, several afterwards did. These con- 
siderations will sufficiently explain the Colonel's reason 
for concentrating the Abyssinian troops, that were still 
in rear, at Gerlogubi, and for eventually assembling the 
whole army at Gorahai in the Tug Fafan, some fifteen 
miles south of Gabridehari. 

On the receipt of the ColoneFs letter I prepared 
to leave Gerlogubi the next day, January i8th. My 
kit, a pair of panniers, a Congo chest, a surgical haver- 
sack, a water bottle, a stretcher and one small water 
tank were loaded up on to four camels, and I took 
also a milking camel with its young. The way lay 
over heavy red, sandy earth and through bush which 
was so thick that at most times it was not possible to 
see more than forty yards around, and often less. A 
halt for the night was made at Ubertale, thirteen 
miles from Gerlogubi and ten miles from Wardair. 
Ubertale is regularly honeycombed with wells ; all, 
however, were then dry except two, and in them the 
depth of the water was not ascertained. 

A large Abyssinian camp had been formed at 
Wardair with ours beside it and enclosed in the same 
zareba. The Colonel, Baird, and Ogilvy were just 
beginning breakfast when I came in at 10.15 a.m. 



154 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

on the 19th, so the time of arrival was opportune. 
Wardair is 200 feet below the level of Gerlogubi and 
possesses an enormous number of wells. The best 
of them are on the higher ground and appear to be 
between sixty and seventy feet deep and in twenty- 
two of them there was from ten to fifteen feet of water. 

The mails had come in two d^s previously, and it 
may be interesting to trace their mode of conveyance 
from Aden. As far as Zeila they came by coasting 
steamer; from Zeila to Harrar, 185 miles, by camel; 
from Harrar to Farso, 8 8 miles, by mule ; from Farso 
to Sesebani, 84 miles, by camel or mule ; from Sesebani 
to Beribu, 1 1 1 miles, by mule ; and from Beribu to 
Wardair, 71 miles, by camel. 

A goodly number of patients with various minor 
ailments soon put in an appearance, and one of them, 
a Somali, was suffering from colic, and no wonder, 
for he had eaten the whole of his date ration at one 
sitting and swallowed the stones into the bargain. 

Fairfax and Rose arrived on the 20th, and it was 
pleasant to have a whole day free from a march. A 
few sick required attendance, some small animals 
were bottled in whisky for Dunn, a baby leopard 
belonging to Baird was duly inspected and photo- 
graphed, and a call on Fituarari Gabri in company 
with Ogilvy and Johannes Fiesah formed the occupa- 
tions of an easy day. 

The Colonel suggested that I should go with 
Ogilvy and 300 Abyssinians on the 21st to try to 
locate the site of Colonel Plunkett*s disaster at 



EXPEDITION TO GUMBURRU 155 

Gumbumi, which we found to lie about forty-four 
miles from Wardair, a little to the south of east and 
about half-way to Galadi. 

It is hardly necessary to say how welcome was the 
prospect of such an expedition. We left camp at 
5.45 a.m. on the 21st, taking with us three days' pro- 
visions and water supply. Two Somali guides ac- 
companied us, and one of them, a Mijjertan from 
Wardair, Hercy by name, had a wonderfully accurate 
knowledge of the country, for he indicated the direc- 
tion and exact situation of the battle-field with the 
precision of a person supplied with a large-scale map 
properly oriented. 

We marched till 9.45, covering thirteen miles, and 
then, after a rest till 12.15, pushed on fifteen miles 
further, halting at five o'clock, in time to make a 
zareba before dark. We travelled over a fairly well- 
marked track, known, I believe, as the Middle Galadi 
road. It was heavy going in places over the usual 
red sandy ground, but we got along at a good pace 
considering that the bush was very thick except in 
a few places. All the trees were leafless except some 
large goorah which, I noticed there, possessed two 
kinds of thorn on the same tree — one long and lance- 
like and the other clawed, or recurved, of the " wait- 
a-bit " shape. Grazing began about seven miles from 
Wardair and continued more or less all the way. 
There were very few birds to be seen, and none of 
them were small ones ; hornbills, khoran, and two big 
bustards, were all wc noticed. There were, however, 



156 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

great numbers of dig-dig, and we saw one old 
rhinoceros track and a few spoor of diptag. 

Three large graves were passed along the road, 
which were said by the guide to be the burial-places of 
the Mullah's men who had been killed at Gumburru 
or had died of their wounds afterwards. The graves, 
however, appeared to me to have been made at 
different times, and this was probably the case, as the 
natives constantly travel to and fro on this route. 
Both that day and the next also we saw several 
shelters which, we were told, had been used by the 
Mullah's wounded, on their way from the scene of 
action to Wardair. 

On the 22nd we left the zareba at 5.45 a.m. with 
two-thirds of the force, carrying full water bottles 
and a day's rations, the other third of the party 
remaining in occupation of the zareba. After a march 
of sixteen miles through thick bushy country, we 
reached the scene of action at 9.15. 

The battle-field lies about a mile and a half to 
the south-east of the hill of Gumburru — a land- 
mark that had been pointed out to us whilst we 
were still some miles away — and comprises an 
area several hundred yards in diameter, which is 
covered with low open bush, jillap scrub, and 
tufted machen grass. It has a few trees, chiefly 
low -growing chairin, which present a somewhat 
flat-topped form, like an inverted saucer, with the 
branches spreading out all round and often coming 
within two feet or so of the ground. 



THE BATTLE-FIELD AND COBBE'S ZAREBA 157 

There were ample evidences of the fierce fight 
which had taken place and of the gallant stand that 
had been made when the small detachment, under its 
British officers, had been overpowered by superior 
numbers and annihilated. A small bullet-scored lebby 
tree was clearly indicated as the last rallying point. 

Nearly four miles due east of Gumburru we came 
to the zareba which Colonel Cobbe had made for the 
protection of the remainder of his force, and it speaks 
well for those who died with Colonel Plunkett that 
the Somalis did not afterwards dare to attack this 
force, but allowed it to return unmolested to General 
Manning's relieving party. 

Between the battle-ground and the zareba the ground 
dips a little, sloping to the south-east and becoming 
rocky. In this hollow the bush is thicker and better 
grown than on the higher ground, the chairin trees 
were in leaf, and the grass greener than in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood. 

From the rocky dip the ground rises to the zareba, 
about which the bush had been cleared for a consider- 
able distance, so as to give an open field of fire. 
Inside it is strongly entrenched with redoubts at the 
salient angles, and is dug out at the south-east corner, 
where apparently the water was stored under a large, 
spreading goorah tree. The interior measures about 
eighty yards by fifty, and when we were there it was 
crowded with "wahb," or grass-and-branch shelters, 
erected by the Mullah's men since Cobbe's occupa- 
tion. The scene of action was probably concealed 



158 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

from those in the zareba by the trees and bush which 
grew about the battle-field. 

We reached the zareba at 11.30 a.m., and left it at 
12.15, ^or there was a twenty miles* march before us 
and we had no time to spare if we were to be back in 
our camp of the previous night before darkness fell. 
We pushed on at a good pace, and rejoined the party 
there at 4.35 p.m., and arrived back at Wardair the 
next day at one o'clock without incident. 

No memorial marks the scene of the action of 
Gumburru in honour of the brave soldiers who fell 
there, yet they, like many more who die for Britain, 
have a tomb in the hearts of their comrades and a 
monument in the memory of their deeds that is more 
enduring than stone. 



CHAPTER VIII 



CHAPTER VIII 

Wardair — Despatch from General Egerton — Commotion in camp — 
Inspection of Walwal — Consultations — Decision to concentrate 
at Gerlogubi — Temporary reoccupation of Wardair — Failure of 
the water at Gerlogubi — Shortage of the Abyssinian supplies — 
Concentration at Gorahai — Drastic treatment — The plain of Gora- 
hai — The bush, a nightmare — ^The district around camp — ^Arriyal of 
Alone and Wakeman — The whole party together — The Abyssinian 
camp : plan of; stench of — Doctoring camels — The native's thick 
head — Baird — ^Dunn — Capitano Citemi and his dog. 

/^N January 23rd the Colonel received the follow* 
ing telegram from Lieut.-General Egerton : " I 
much appreciate the occupation of Wardair and the 
exertions of yourself and staff by which it has been 
achieved. Please convey to the Abyssinian officer in 
chief command my congratulations and my apprecia- 
tion of the arduous march which has been made by 
his force. Their presence at Wardair at the present 
time closes to the Mullah an important line of retreat, 
and I trust sufficient force may be maintained there to 
hold it and, if possible, to threaten Galadi during the 
next month. My force is at present extended along 
South Nogal towards Adodero to cut off the retreat 
of the Haroun to the south, as a preliminary to 
regaining touch with the Dervish force which moved 

M 161 



i62 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

east from Halin after the action at Jidballi on the 
loth." The telegram went on to give a report of 
the battle of Jidballi and of the future disposition 
of the different portions of the Somaliland Field 
Force, and various eventualities were discussed. 

A tremendous commotion suddenly arose that 
evening in the Somali quarter of our camp. The 
Colonel and Baird went out for an afternoon stroll 
about 4.45 and were returning to camp when, as they 
emerged from the thick bush, an Abyssinian fired a 
shot at what he thought was a hyaena, the bullet 
whizzing close by them. The Abyssinian was greatly 
distressed, and at once expressed profound regret, 
but before any of the rest of us knew that anything 
had happened, the Somalis spread a wild report that 
the Colonel and Baird had been either shot or were 
having their throats cut by some Abyssinians, and 
all turned out pell-mell with any firearms they could 
lay their hands on. I was speaking to Rose in my 
tent when suddenly my syce bolted in, seized my 
rifle, upsetting nearly everything in his blind and 
blazing excitement, and yelled out that the Colonel 
and Baird were done for. We did not, of course, 
believe a word of his jabber, but thinking one 
of them might have been accidentally hurt, we 
went to look for them. In a few seconds they ap- 
peared, followed by a crowd of chattering Somalis, 
whom the Colonel soon dismissed by telling them that 
it was all a mistake. My syce got into some trouble 
in the business for having cut one of the Abyssinian 



TO CONCENTRATE AT GERLOGUBI 163 

machangas (hide thongs or reins), haF of which he 
stole. His case was disposed of by Baird inflicting a 
fine of Rs.io, and after that peace reigned once more. 

On the 25th a party consisting of the Colonel, Baird, 
Ogilvy, Fituarari Gabri, Fituarari Kolassi, Gerasmatch 
Kitemma, Balambaras Ahsheety, Balambaras Assegud, 
Ato Karakorat and myself, with 160 Abyssinians, 
rode over to Walwal, about eight miles to the north, 
to inspect the water supply there. There are a great 
number of wells at that place, which, at a rough 
guess, I should say are sixty feet or so in depth ; and 
very many of them contained water. Ogilvy and I 
walked all the way through the thick bush, hoping to 
get a shot at diptag, but neither of us caught sight of 
any although there was a lot of spoor about. We also 
noticed old rhinoceros tracks in some places. 

After various consultations the Colonel and Fituarari 
Gabri decided to effect a preliminary concentration of 
all the forces at Gerlogubi, and the Fituarari promised 
the Colonel that he would do his best to get to the 
bottom of the Abyssinian supplies, which were still a 
very uncertain quantity. The Abyssinians stood in 
great awe of their commander, and he, fortunately, 
had a most profound respect for the Colonel's judg- 
ment and decision. It was hoped that it would be 
possible to despatch a considerable section of the troops 
that were now at Gerlogubi, or would shortly arrive 
there, to reoccupy Wardair ; but all depended on 
supplies. The possibility was discussed that at the 
end of the operations the Abyssinians would have to 



l64 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

return by the Webbe Shabdeh, on the road to which, 
and beyond, there were both water and food, whilst 
there was very little of the former and none of the 
latter if they returned by the road on which they had 
come. In case of the alternative route being selected, 
Dunn and I would be required to accompany them, 
and we regarded the possibility with unmixed pleasure, 
as it offered the prospect of good shooting and very 
likely a scrape with the second or " mushroom " 
Mullah, who had sprung up in those parts. Our 
whole force at Wardair, therefore, struck camp on 
January 26th, and marched for Gerlogubi, which was 
reached the next day at 7 a.m. 

The water supply at Gerlogubi had now unfortu- 
nately become very insufficient. During our absence 
a large force of Abyssinians had assembled there, so 
that there had been a great drain on the wells for 
some time before the arrival of our contingent ; and 
with such an addition to the numbers, the state of 
affairs at once became critical. Most of the Colonel's 
time was occupied in settling disputes between the 
Somalis and the Habshis, and in receiving deputations 
from the Chiefs on questions chiefly relating to water 
supplies. Some of the wells failed on the day of our 
arrival and some Abyssinians sat up all night waiting 
for them to fill up a little. The next day the water 
allowance per man was reduced by half, and all bathing 
was, of course, forbidden. Three batches of Abys- 
sinians petitioned the Colonel for food, and the 
numbers appeared to rise in geometrical progression. 



DRASTIC TREATMENT 165 

The issue of a rice ration to each man made them 
grateful ; but something evidently must be done at 
once. After repeated consultations, it was decided 
that Duff and Dunn (who had arrived at Gerlogubi 
before our return from Wardair), with Ogilvy and 
Fairfax, their mules and twenty -five camels, and 
1,500 Abyssinians, with their animals, should proceed 
the next day, January 29th, to reoccupy Wardair. 
This served the double purpose of maintaining con- 
trol over the wells there, and of rendering our 
movements more perplexing to the Mullah, who 
probably was fully aware of our proceedings through 
the various half-harmless and half-suspicious-looking 
Somalis that were hanging round the place. 

On January 30th it was resolved to take the force 
remaining at Gerlogubi, consisting roughly of 3,000 
men and nine or ten thousand animals, to Gorahai, 
on the Tug Fafan, where there was good grazing on 
an open plain and also a fair supply of water. 

Reference to the map will show that this place lies 
forty-eight miles south-west of Gerlogubi, eighteen 
miles from Adeleh, and about seven miles south of 
Beribu, through which we had passed on January 13th. 

I remember on that last afternoon at Gerlogubi 
prescribing a very drastic treatment for a patient. The 
camel jemadar, speaking in Arabic, told me that there 
was a sick " gemal " (soft g) that he thought would 
be unable to march to-morrow. I asked if it was one 
with a bad back, and he said " Yes," so 1 inquired 
whether I had seen him in the morning, and he said 



i66 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

I had. I then asked whether he thought he was 
likely to recover, and he replied that he hardly thought 
things were so bad as that, but that he could not 
bear anything on his back. " Well, then," I said, " if 
that's the case, he had better have his throat cut and 
the Somalis can eat him " — for they will eat almost 
any kind of camel, provided that it has been "hallaled*' 
or had its throat cut before death by a Somali and the 
words "Bismillahi Allah Akbar" — ^**In the name of 
God Almighty " — pronounced at the same time. The 
jemadar seemed to look askance at my suggestion ; 
but thinking he did not quite see the force of the 
reasoning — for I had expected him to jump at the pro- 
posal — I repeated that he might have the camel's 
throat cut, and added that the Somalis could eat him 
or not as they liked. The man's face became blanched 
with horror, and such a change came over him when 
I further added that I would go and see it done, that 
I began to suspect something must be wrong. He 
had meant a " gemil," a camel-man, and not a "gemal," 
or camel, as I had understood, for the words are pro- 
nounced very much alike. His face beamed with 
delight as the matter was cleared up, and I went along 
with him and arranged that the man should ride a 
mule. As the jemadar had said, I had seen him and 
prescribed for him in the morning after the camel 
doctoring. 

We filled up our water tanks at Gerlogubi on the 
evening of January 31st, and commenced the march 
to Gorahai at 7.15, continuing till midnight, and 



THE PLAIN OF GORAHAI 167 

covering fifteen miles. The next morning we pushed 
on to Adeleh, where we rested for the day ; and on 
February 2nd, after a six hours* march in a westward 
direction, we crossed the Fafan River bed and halted 
at Gorahai. 

As we emerged from the thickets at Adeleh and 
entered upon an open plain, our feeling was one of 
intense relief at being in the fresh air again, and able to 
breathe freely, for the thick dark bush round about, 
every day and all day, oppresses one like a nightmare. 
Imagine yourself, in some horrible dream, dropped 
into a maze, and left there : the maze is of thick 
thorn bushes, and every tree becomes transformed 
into a half-starved and parched octopus, every branch 
into a tentacle, and every thorn into a sucker, and you, 
gripped tight, are in the midst of it. By some big 
effort you shake yourself free and are at liberty to 
move and breathe. It was so with us when we left 
the bush and entered the plain of Gorahai. 

The country is truly a dismal, hopeless wilderness, 
and no wonder the Abyssinian thought it was fit only 
for infidels and hyaenas. How long it has been such 
a waterless desolation I do not know, and it passes 
one's comprehension to understand how it can ever be 
anything else. It is one of the waste places of the 
earth, and, short of some titanic convulsion, will 
probably remain so. Yet here were we, we islanders, 
moiling and toiling in the heart of it I It was the 
greatest possible relief at Gorahai to see around us an 
open, level plain more or less covered with sun-dried 



i68 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

grass, dotted with scrub and trees, and alive with aoul, 
sand-grouse and pigeons — although there were plenty 
of jackals and hyaenas lurking in their company ; and 
this notwithstanding the fact that the air was charged 
for half the day on an average with the comings 
and goings of dust-storms. 

Our camp was pitched on the south-west side of 
the Fafan between Gorahai (6* 33' 45'' N., Ogilvy) and 
Moradili ; Gebel Debengiddi lay about three miles 
away to the south-west, and another hill, Gebel Faikh, 
about five miles to the east. There was some running 
water in the Fafan bed, some distance above camp, 
but it was foul and dark, and dead camels were lying 
in several of the larger pools. Our water was drawn 
from a series of shallow wells, or rather holes, about 
a mile south-east of camp, and although the water 
was a little muddy it was good enough, and, as there 
was plenty of it, the Colonel gave orders that the 
mules should be watered twice a day, which, after 
the hard times they had been having, soon began to 
bring about an improvement in their condition. 

The mirage was often very well marked at Gorahai, 
and riding back to camp from a distance, the hills 
around looked like islands ; our tents seemed to be 
floating in a lake, and the camels and mules appeared 
to be wading knee-deep in the water. 

About eight miles to the south-east the grass and 
trees were quite green, and the aoul grazing in crowds 
all about were so tame that it would have been quite 
easy to go up and shoot one with a shot-gun. They 




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SANI> C.ROl'Si: FOR Till-: POT. 




ABYSSINIAN CAMI'-- OORAIIAr. 



Page 170, 



THE DISTRICT AROUND CAMP 169 

were most useful in providing us with fresh meat. 
Our supply of shot-cartridges had become small, so 
we had to adopt murderous, non-sporting tactics with 
the blue rocks and sand-grouse that abounded every- 
where, and shoot into a heap of them as they stood on 
the ground, so as to bag half a dozen or a dozen at 
a shot. The record shots in this way were eighty- 
eight sand-grouse in four shots and twenty-six in one 
shot. The birds were very delicious eating, and if it 
had not been for them and other game which it was 
the daily duty of one or other of us to provide, we 
should have found our rations running short too 
soon, beside being very dry and uninteresting. Our 
own boxes of extra supplies from home were now 
weeks overdue, and we had given up expecting to see 
them, except perhaps at Harrar, if we happened to 
return that way. 

There are few more graceful little birds than the 
sand-grouse. Although alert enough in full daylight, 
they appear to be almost blind in the dim light of 
dawn, for at that time, walking upright in the open, 
you may often approach so close to them that you 
could if you wanted almost knock them over with 
a stick, and even when so close as that, they appeared 
to be disturbed more by what they heard than by 
what they saw, whilst there may have been light 
enough for you yourself to see them twenty yards or 
more away. 

We held on to our camps at Gorahai from February 
2nd till March 29th, keeping parties in observation 



I70 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

of Gerlogubi, Wardair and other districts. The 
contingent at Wardair under DufF was withdrawn; 
and he, with Dunn, Fairfax, Ogilvy, Basha Balina 
and the caravan, arrived in camp at Gorahai on 
February 5th. " George," the second Abyssinian in- 
terpreter, who was attached to the rear portion of the 
force, was reported to be missing. DufF did not 
think the world of "George" — neither did anyone 
else for the matter of that — and high hopes were 
entertained that he was lost for ever ; but later on 
he turned up as self-confident as usual, and with a 
beaming countenance, whilst Duff's fell unmistakably 
at the sight of him. 

On February 6th Alone and Wakeman arrived 
with a welcome convoy from Harrar ; and now for the 
first time the whole of the Colonel's staflF was in camp 
together. The force in the small British camp con- 
sisted of 10 officers. Sergeant Tubb and 226 Somalis, 
with 235 transport camels, 68 mules, 5 ponies and 7 
riding camels. With the supplies that Alone had 
brought we had 69 sacks of rice, 33 tins of ghee and 
29 bags of dates,^ or sufficient approximately to pro- 
vide rice and ghee rations for 230 men for 45 days, 
and dates for 35 days. 

The Abyssinian camp was pitched some four miles 
to the north of ours, and as there were about 5,000 
men and upwards of 15,000 animals in camp, it will 
be understood that it covered a large extent of 
ground. It was pitched, as they always arc, in the 
^ The round rolls of dates were found to be the best. 



THE ABYSSINIAN CAMP 171 

open, and the tents, of all shapes and sizes, were 
arranged in circles round the tent of a Chief, with the 
animals tethered close to the tents inside the circle. 
At the centre of the whole camp was the tent of 
Fituarari Gabri, and arranged round it in a circle 



,-•'' Chief ***--^. 

,.-'' '• /Animals Q ^.^ 

y' ' gj / /(Dufer RiM ^ Tents ^ ' 

/■ TdW <» o a 

M .--■ Ch ^ ^ 



9y' " 9 ^ .. 

i^«^^i ^v^.i ^^^i 

o o » ./ 



were the tents of his immediate following. Outside 
this, as shown above, was a series of circular groups 
of tents, each around a Chief, who might be of any 
rank, from a Fituarari to a Basha. The diagram shows 
the camp, not as it was, but as it would have been 
had the tents been regularly arranged and dressed. 



172 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

The stench around the tents, when the men were 
making "biltong" out of aoul meat or mutton, 
was terrible. The ground, too', in the vicinity 
of the camp became abominably foul, stinking and 
polluted, especially in some places ; and before the 
camp had been in existence a week there were two 
dead and rotting donkeys and a dead camel in an 
advanced state of decomposition lying in the river 
bed close to the water holes — one of them within 
fifteen yards, and the others not more than forty 
yards away. Crowds of men were down there all day 
and every day, drawing water or watering their 
animals, and everyone was either holding his nose 
or had his nostrils plugged with rags. They all did 
this rather than adopt the simple expedient of re- 
moving or burning the carcasses. Every man thought 
it was somebody else's business to do the work. 
If a shower of rain had fallen, the wells would 
have soon become charged with filthy putrefying 
matter. 

By the aid of an interpreter and Assistant-Surgeon 
Wakeman, the obvious remedy was pointed out to 
them, but they very plainly regarded it as a "lame 
and impotent conclusion." The Habshi thought the 
cure would be more nauseating than the disease ; to 
remove the oflFence would turn the stomach, whilst it 
could just be borne if left alone. 

In view of these insanitary conditions, it may 
occasion surprise that there were only two deaths from 
disease during the whole expedition. One was that of 




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GhRASMATCH DI'STA 1:NT1:RING THK ZARIBA. 




ABYSSINIAN CllIKF AND I^OU^OWERS IN " RKVIUW ORDKR." 



Pago 182. 



DOCTORING CAMELS 173 

a man who died of a malignant type of remittent fever 
at Gorahai, and the other that of a Balambaras who 
died of the same disease on his way back to Harrar. 
There were, however, several sick, chiefly with minor 
ailments, to be seen daily. Those who were able 
came over to see us, but Dunn, Wakeman and myself 
took it in turns to ride over to the Abyssinian camp 
at 6.30 in the morning, and our duties usually 
employed us there till 1 1 or 1 1 .30. Two hours each 
morning, usually from 6.30 to 8.30, was spent in 
doctoring transport camels, and there were on an 
average fifty- three to be attended to daily. They 
were formed up in single rank, well to the rear of 
camp, in kneeling position, with a rope tied round 
the neck and fore legs, and with their heads to lee- 
wards, because in that way one stood clear of their 
breath, which is overpoweringly offensive. The 
treatment consisted in cleaning the sores with raw 
cotton from which the seeds had been picked out, 
steeped in a •! per cent, solution of corrosive sublim- 
ate ; in syringing with the same solution, and other- 
wise treating the sores as was necessary, and finally in 
applying a dressing of the cotton steeped in the same 
solution. Five assistants were necessary for the 
work : No. i carried the solution. No. 2 the cotton 
wool. No. 3 helped to clean the sores. No. 4 held 
the camel by the lips to prevent his biting, and No. 5 
went on one camel in advance, removing the old 
dressings. Each camel, whilst being dressed, keeps 
up a growling and gurgling noise like a mountain in 



174 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

labour, and very often one would roll suddenly over 
on to his side and let out with his hind legs ; and, 
seeing that he has a reach of about five feet with 
them, it was necessary to keep a sharp look-out. 

Speaking of medical matters reminds me that we 
had under treatment at that time a Somali, who must 
have been endowed by nature with a remarkably 
thick head. The day before we left Gerlogubi he 
was working at the bottom of a seventy-foot well, 
cleaning out the mud. As usual in such cases, he 
had been let down by a rope tied round his waist, and 
was employed in filling a bucket which was raised by 
another rope when full, and lowered again when 
emptied. On this occasion, one of the cross beams at 
the mouth of the well, a rough-hewn branch several 
inches in diameter, got detached and dropped down 
the shaft on to the man's head, which it ought to 
have knocked into smithereens, but did nothing of 
the kind. Its fall must have been broken in some 
way, for it could not have hit him very directly ; at 
all events, the yells which followed were conclusive 
evidence that he had by no means received his 
quietus. He was quickly hauled up, being nearly 
strangled in the process, and all the damage he could 
show was a slight scalp wound. 

One of the worst features of being stationed for 
seven weeks in such an outlandish, dust-storm-home 
of a place as Gorahai was that, apart from one's 
duties, there was little to do. That hated diary 
was, of course, always waiting for one like a goblin, 



BAIRD AND DUNN 175 

but to keep it entered up could not by any stretch of 
imagination be called an amusement. The Colonel 
allowed us to get away in pairs on short shooting 
expeditions, and if it had not been for them and for 
one's excellent companions, our stay would have been 
about as dreary a business as could be imagined. 

The mails from home came on camels at irregular 
intervals, and the news of the situation between 
Russia and Japan in the Far East was just then, I 
think, more interesting than the movements of the 
elusive Mullah. 

Concerning one's fellow campaigners, however, let 
me add to what I have said of the Colonel and Duff 
by trying to hit off some of the characteristics of 
Baird and Dunn. Like the divinity student, how- 
ever, who was up for his examination in Holy Orders, 
and was asked to write a description of the Kings of 
Israel and to contrast their characters, I feel inclined 
to say that " it is invidious on my part to distinguish 
between these great and holy men." Everything 
about Baird is systematic and always in apple-pie 
order, from his clothes to his tent-ropes. Vivacity, 
tact, and scholarly gifts reveal the diplomatist, for, 
from the ease with which he speaks French, German, 
Italian, or Arabic, any one of them might be his 
mother tongue. His spirit, knowledge, sincerity 
and good judgment make him a man whose advice 
is worth asking and taking; and add to all these 
virtues his ready generosity and the fact that he 
is invariably late for his meals, and a suitable back- 



176 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

ground of human frailty is provided for a good 
fellow. 

Dunn has been a friend and comrade for many 
years, and if one man could say more of another than 
that, Dunn would deserve it. Always true, always 
where there was work to be done, and always ready to 
do it, he is an all-round sportsman and also the most 
industrious naturalist imaginable. The specimens he 
obtained during this expedition, like those he collected 
in the Soudan, have been added to the collection in 
the South Kensington Museum, and the accompany- 
ing particulars are obtained from Professor Oldfield 
Thomas's description of them.^ A considerable 
number of new forms is contained in the collection, 
and some of them, particularly a certain mongoose, a 
ground squirrel and a rat (Ammodillus imbellis) show 
in a marked degree the adaptation of colour in the 
animals so as to make them correspond with the red 
sandy ground on which they live. A reduction in 
size, no doubt arising from the difficult conditions 
of their existence, is shown in several forms, as, for 
example, in the two skulls and the skin of pigmy 
leopards (Felis pardus manopardus), which are the 
first specimens of the kind that have been brought 
to this country ; in the small Somali wild dog (Lycaon 
pictus Somalicus) and in a new variety of rat which 

1 « On a Collection of Mammals Obtained in Somaliland by Major 
H. N. Dunn, R.A.M.c.y with descriptions of allied specimens from 
other localities, by Oldfield Thomas, f.r.s." — Annals and Magazme 
of Natural History^ Sect. 7, vol. xiy. August, 1904. 



CAPITANO CITERNI AND HIS DOG 177 

Professor Thomas has named Gerbillus Dunni after 
the donor of the specimen.^ 

Before closing this chapter a word should be said 
of Capitano Carlo Citerni, whose interesting reminis- 
cences were so pleasant to all of us. He has had a 
long experience of the country and travelled to Lake 
Rudolph on one of his journeys. A faithful follower 
of his took the shape (!) of a pariah dog which slept 
all day except when it was eating, and bayed and 
barked throughout the livelong night. It was a 
lubberly, hulking hound, with a coat like the kebid of 
a h6rio, and was diabolically fat and lazy. One day it 
was lying on the ground about ten yards from where 
I was sitting, so to give it a little exercise I called 
it to me. Instead of jumping up and bounding 
across, as any decent dog would have done, it 
straightened out its hind legs, folded in its fore legs, 
and rolled over and over sideways until it came to 
anchor at my feet. It waved, not wagged, its tail, 
blinked, yawned and fell into a dead sleep, snoring 
like a pig. 

^ Without giving a detailed account, it may be said that Dunn's 
specimens described by Professor Oldfield Thomas include one or 
many of the following types : weasel, cat, leopard, mongoose, hunting 
dog, badger, ground squirrel, bat, rat, mouse, porcupine, hare, coney, 
dig-dig and deer. 



CHAPTER IX 



CHAPTER IX 

Abyssinian Customs — Method of obtaining information — Wakeman 
— Mobilisation and equipment — Soldiers — Ranks — Transport — 
Dress — Decorations — Fighting qualities and methods — Tribute 
system — Coinage — Calendar — Seasons — Posts — Education — 
Justice and crime — The Thief Catcher 

/^^AREFUL efForts were made to arrive at a right 
understanding of some of the established 
Abyssinian conventions and practices, and inquiries 
were pursued on every convenient occasion during 
the whole time of our stay in the country. Many 
things became clear in the course of questioning 
our Amharic and Arabic interpreters, a certain 
Balambaras, and several soldiers and patients whose 
confidence one was able to gain ; but my course was 
beset with many difficulties until the arrival of 
Assistant-Surgeon W. A. M. Wakeman. He speaks 
Amharic like a native, and thoroughly understands 
the idioms and turns of expression. He is eminently 
careful and sound, and during his six years' residence 
in the country and on various expeditions he has 
been brought into intimate contact with a great 
many persons of both low and high stations. The 

i8i 



i82 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

officers with whom he had served or whom he had 
attended on the expedition for the Survey* of the 
southern frontier of Abyssinia, were continually 
singing his praises to me and could not speak 
highly enough of his achievements and of his de- 
votion to his work. To him I am indebted for 
the solution of many perplexing problems, for a 
literal interpretation of enigmatical expressions, and 
for continual help. 

The accompanying notes summarise my investiga- 
tions, and I think that on the whole they may be 
relied upon as correct. 

There is no need for compulsory military service in 
Abyssinia, for the national instinct is so martial that 
in case of emergency every man would probably turn 
out to fight. There are no " King's Regulations " for 
the enlistment, pay and services of the soldier, and 
the conditions vary somewhat amongst the different 
Chiefs. Those conditions, however, which relate to 
the enrolment of Menelik's own soldiers, and of 
those of the big Abyssinian Chiefs, are somewhat as 
follows. 

On registering his name as a soldier, a man usually 
receives $3, a rifle, a few cartridges and a large roll of 
grey American sheeting (boluko) about thirty yards 
in length. The rifles given out are of all patterns, 
the " Gras " predominating. The boluko costs from 

^ See the Report, toL L p. i8. 



MOBILISATION AND EQUIPMENT 183 

$3 to $4, washes well and lasts a long time, and the 
men either make it into a tent or cut it into three 
suitings. The man also receives twelve kunnas^ of 
grain per month for himself and his wife, a pay of $5 
a year, and, occasionally, an extra honorarium of $6 a 
year. The pay is said to increase with the length of 
service, and an old and trusted soldier may receive as 
much as $15 a year, or get an increase in his ration 
allowance, or receive presents and other tokens of 
appreciation from his Chief After a year's service 
the soldier usually receives a sword of a sharp- 
curved make — a scimitar, in fact — ^which is used for 
hacking and not for thrusting purposes, and is worn, 
when campaigning, sheathed and on the right side. 
After three years' service he may be given a revolver 
and cartridges, and, if he has proved himself a good 
soldier, a riding mule and saddle, a horse, and per- 
haps a pack donkey. These latter he has to keep 
at his own expense, and they become his property, 
though he is liable to forfeiture of them on mis- 
behaviour. 

When an army is mobilised for active service, the 
Ras, to whose lot it falls, issues a proclamation to his 
Chiefs ; they pass it on to their sub-chiefs, and they 
to the private soldiers, who are thereby instructed to 
assemble at the head-quarters of their respective Chiefs 
and to receive arms, ammunition, supplies and equip- 

^ A kunna is between one and two pounds' weight. 



i84 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

ment from the official arsenal and store. Each man 
receives an ammunition belt with forty rounds of 
ammunition, a cooking pot and a baking pan, and, if 
he does not already possess them, a horse, a mule, a 
boluko and a rifle. Revolvers, knives and swords 
are always the property of the man who carries them. 
The daily ration consists of a kunna of tefF flour, 
and from one to two months' supplies on this basis 
are issued to each man. Beyond this he receives 
nothing but his regular allowance of twelve kunnas 
of grain per month, and he has to depend on 
what he can beg, borrow, or raid on the expedi- 
tion. If a man leaves his wife behind him, she is 
entitled to draw a moiety of his monthly allowance. 
Two-thirds of all looted animals belong to the Chief, 
and the remaining third is divided amongst his 
soldiers. None but a singularly benevolent Chief will 
replace a man's lost mule or other animal unless its 
tail is produced as evidence of its death. The per- 
sonal belongings of a dead enemy belong to the man 
who has killed him. A man may receive ornaments 
for hanging on his horse's or his mule's neck as a 
reward for service, and he may even obtain promotion 
to the rank of Balambaras — though rarely higher. 
Should a man save a comrade's life on the battle-fleld 
he receives a bracelet or some other distinctive orna- 
ment as a decoration. The higher ranks do not draw 
any regular army pay, but receive grants of land 
which bring them in tribute. 



RANKS 185 

The following are the army ranks : — 



I. watadar 


= A soldier ("Tommy Atkins.") 


2. Amsa Alaka 


= Chief of 50 men. 


3. Metto Alaka 


= » 5> 100 „ 


4. Basha, generally = „ „ 300 „ 


5. Balambaras 


= Commander of a fortress or post. 


6. Yesambul 


= Commander of 1,000 men. 


7. Gerazmatch 


„ „ left wing. 


8. Kanzamatch 


„ „ right wing. 


9. Fituarari 


„ „ advance guard. 


10. Dejasmatch 


= A general. 


II. Ras 


= Governor. 


12. King 


= King. 


13. Emperor 


= King of Kings. 



The Emperor Menelik is known as Negoosa Negist 
or NegAs Nagasti (hard g's), the King of Kings, Jan 
Hoy (the Exalted One or Emperor, or His Majesty), 
and he is officially addressed as "The Conquering 
Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Menelik II, The Elect 
of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia." 

The exact derivation of the expression "Jan Hoy " 
is not clear, but from what I could gather, it has 
nothing to do with " the man in the red tent " as has 
been suggested, although the Emperor is the only 
person permitted to occupy a red tent, or, for the 
matter of that, any tent with a double fly. 

The term " Lij " is applied to the general nobility, 
as apart from army rank, and may be taken as 
equivalent to esquire. 



i86 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

Accompanying the King's army and with some 
of the big Chiefs' armies, are treasury, transport, 
granary and engineer officers. If a Chief can afford 
it, he takes a woman and a private soldier — a tent- 
boy — to cook for him. Four or five men will 
commonly club together, one man's boluko serving 
for their tent, and the others making it up to him in 
suitings. Similarly they will often employ a menial 
to work for them, and the result is that in any 
Abyssinian camp there are a great many hirelings and 
hangers-on, who, when it comes to hand-to-hand 
fighting, are accustomed to join in with knives, 
swords, or any weapon they can lay their hands on in 
order to get a share of the spoil. Judging from their 
appearance, they are eminently cut out for this sort 
of work. 

The Abyssinians are accustomed to carry their 
water in large canvas water bottles or in skins, but, as 
already explained, this method of transport had been 
found insufficient during the expedition in the spring 
of 1903, and on this occasion the British Government 
had supplemented it by the issue of 1,000 eight-gallon 
and 360 twelve-gallon water tanks and 5,000 water 
bottles. At the start of the expedition the water 
bottles were filled with tej or with araki, as they 
were looked upon as too small for carrying water. 

It was very difficult to estimate with accuracy the 
number of Abyssinians in the field with us, but there 
were probably from 4,000 to 5,000 fighting men, 
and from 12,000 to 15,000 animals. The Emperor 




I 



06 




< 



DECORATIONS 187 

Menelik had provided 1,500 riding and transport 
animals, mules, donkeys, or horses, and 200 camels. 
The remainder — not possessed by the men themselves 
in the ordinary way — had been supplied by Ras 
Makunnan. 

The soldiers^ dress consists of a pair of baggy 
trousers, tight below the knee, made of American 
grey sheeting, and a shirt of the same material. Over 
them is a shamma or loose woven tobe, and the loins 
are girded with a twisted roll — the makannat — of 
about thirty yards of fine muslin. A black silk cord 
— the matab — is hung round the neck, and to 
it are attached several amulets for protection against 
the evil eye and certain diseases. Very commonly 
also a cross hangs from the cord, but it is the cord 
and not the cross which typifies Christianity. 

The men have a passion for hats, and favour a soft 
felt wideawake, which is usually black or grey ; but 
all kinds of hats are grabbed with the utmost avidity. 
The sword is often richly ornamented, and, in addition 
to it and the rifle, they carry a circular shield made 
of oryx or some other hide, which is often decorated 
with brass, tin, silver, or gold bands. A revolver and 
one or two knives may be stuck in the makannat, 
and in full dress they array themselves in leopard- 
skins or in black and white sheep-skins. Their mule 
trappings are also often decorated, so that altogether 
when in their full "war-paint" they present a very 
picturesque appearance. In the low or thorny country 
most men wear canvas gaiters and leather sandals or 



i88 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

"chamma," but never in the hills. When riding, 
they grip the stirrup between the great and second 
toes, and they always mount on the ofF side. 

The dress of the officers is substantially the same 
as that of the men, only the materials are of a finer 
quality, and they wear in addition a long black silk 
cape — ^generally of Egyptian manufacture — which is 
called a "kabba." On gala days their display of 
wearing apparel is very fine indeed, and all sorts 
of fantastic waistcoats and shirts are donned, and the 
head is often crowned with a lion's mane. 

Besides the decorations that indicate military rank 
or service, many are worn which show the extent 
of the wearer's achievements in either sport or adven- 
ture. Thus a plain or ornamented stud or earring 
worn in the lobe of the left ear denotes that the 
wearer has killed from one to five elephants. If he 
has killed six elephants, a man wears a ring in each 
ear, both rings of the same size. If he has killed 
a rhinoceros and an elephant, he wears a large ring in 
the left ear to denote the elephant, and a smaller one 
in the right ear for the rhinoceros. Great honours 
attach to the killing of a lion, and the slayer is 
entitled to a silver gilt neck chain — a dirri. A rough 
scale of values is generally understood as follows : — 

One elephant is considered equivalent to ten men 
(formerly it counted as forty men). 

One rhinoceros is considered equivalent to five men 
(formerly it counted as twenty men). 

One lion is considered equivalent to five men. 



FIGHTING QUAUTIES AND METHODS 189 

One leopard is considered equivalent to one man 
(formerly it counted as five men). 

The slaying of a wild dog is also looked upon 
as a considerable achievement, owing to the rarity 
of these animals and to superstitious fears of their 
ferocity. No mark of distinction attaches to the 
killing of a man. 

The Abyssinian soldier is undoubtedly hardy and a 
good campaigner, and when you get to know him and 
are careful not to see too much, he commands your 
admiration. He has a very profound sense of nation- 
ality, and I am convinced that rival Chiefs — even if the 
bitterest enemies — would sink their differences and 
unite in opposing any invading force. The troops 
would certainly give a good account of themselves in 
bush fighting or in a hand-to-hand conflict, but how 
they would stand modern artillery fire, if unable to 
return it, one cannot say. Their endurance is beyond 
question, and doubtless their courage also. They 
are reluctant to attack when in a minority, but once 
in a fight, whether in a minority or not, there is 
apparently, so far as one could learn, no such thing 
as stopping or controlling them. Once these " dogs 
of war " are let slip, " no quarter " and wild frenzied 
excitement appear to be the order of the day, and 
they become mad with a sort of blood intoxication ; 
their one fierce desire being to get in with their 
swords and deal out slaughter. When fighting a 
charging enemy, they are said to ride within a few 
hundred yards of the foe, dismount and leave their 



I90 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

mules (which are accustomed to stand quietly), blaze 
ofF five or six rounds of ammunition, sling their 
rifles rapidly over their shoulders, draw their swords 
with their right hand, hold up their hide shields with 
the left, and with fierce yells and shouts throw them- 
selves in a headlong rush upon the enemy. 

They march with Somali and Abyssinian scouts 
thrown well out in advance and on both flanks ; the 
scouts fire at sight and then fall back on the advance 
guard. Somalis in particular are used for this work 
because of their excellent topographical knowledge. 
The advance guard is well in front of the main body, 
which itself marches with right and left wings thrown 
out. After the main body come the baggage supplies 
and the reserve ammunition column, and, last of all, 
a large rear-guard. 

When campaigning against an enemy armed with 
modern weapons, their preference is for forced 
marches, covering forty or fifty miles in a day. For 
choice they start at sunset, march the whole night, 
and come upon the enemy at daybreak. Before they 
start on this night march they form a strong zarebaed 
camp in which all the sick men, baggage, and reserve 
supplies are left, the men on the march providing 
themselves with four or five days' rations, either 
wrapped up in their girdles or carried on their saddles. 
Their constant aim in fight is to make a wide envelop- 
ing movement, but they have no means of com- 
munication either by heliograph or semaphore. We 
were told that they make every available use of cover. 



FIGHTING QUAUTIES AND METHODS 191 

of stones, bushes, rocks, or of unevenness of the 
ground, and that they creep, kneel, or He down, 
or make short rushes, as the case may be, firing as 
they go, and that they do not charge in with their 
favourite sword until signs of demoralisation in 
the enemy have shown themselves. Their impulsive- 
ness and thirst for blood, however, are so great, 
that, for my part, I should receive this account of 
their patient use of cover with a good deal of 
scepticism. 

If attacked on the march, they abandon their mules 
to " the care of God " and try to get to close quarters 
at once. They may apparently pursue a defeated 
enemy for a short distance, but what is attempted is 
more in the nature of mounted infantry work than 
of cavalry action. 

They soon quiet down when all is over, and become 
well-behaved and courteous. They are fond of loud 
talking, but are not really braggarts. They can do 
a good deal of hard swearing, and they are not ex- 
actly novices at lying ; in fact, they are very artistic 
liars, and lying is their besetting sin, although they 
themselves do not regard it as a vice. In this 
respect, however, even they cannot be compared with 
the Somali, who is, so far as my experience goes, both 
by nature, tradition, and habit a master of the art. 
The Abyssinian thoroughly hates the Somali, and 
especially one in the service of a white man. In 
mental powers the Abyssinians admit themselves 
inferior to the white man, but in every other respect, 



192 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

especially in fighting qualities, they place themselves 
far above him. 

Before referring to the domestic life and habits of 
the Abyssinians, a few details of their public adminis- 
tration, and of such general matters as I was able to 
obtain a reliable account of, may be mentioned. 

The peasants, as distinguished from the landed 
proprietors, appear to make their contribution to the 
State by a tribute^ either in labour or in kind. Al- 
together it appears to be a rather complicated business, 
but in the case of the more immediate subjects of the 
Emperor Menelik it is as follows : every man who 
holds about an acre (kalad) of land from the Emperor 
has to work for him two days out of every eight, or 
to provide a substitute. He also pays a tithe of the 
land's produce, is expected to grind five kunnas of 
grain — which is supplied for the purpose — generally, 
once a month, to furnish $3 worth of honey per 
annum, and to equip an armed soldier if an expedi- 
tion is undertaken. If he fails in any respect he is 
liable to a fine of two " salts " or half a dollar. The 
"salt" is a block measuring, I believe, 10 in. by i^ in. 
by i^ in., and a salt, a half-salt and a quarter-salt are 
currency. When the salts get broken into smaller 
pieces they are given to horses and mules, or are used 
for household purposes. 

Coinage. — The Maria Theresa dollar, as already 
said, is current throughout Abyssinia, and the traveller 
should buy them at Aden. The rate of exchange 
fluctuates from Rs.130 to Rs.180 per $100. The 



CALENDAR 193 

Menelik dollar is current about Adis Ababa, but 
his smaller coins do not circulate freely. Rupees 
are accepted at Harrar and as far as Gildessa and 
Jigjiga, but usually at a discount of two annas per 
rupee, and, as far as Kunni, two anna pieces are freely 
accepted. The merchants at Harrar will usually 
accept drafts, but it is better to take money to Adis 
Ababa unless it has been made quite certain before- 
hand that drafts will be accepted, and if the drafts 
are for large amounts, a month's notice is generally 
required. In remote districts cloth, wine, beads, etc., 
should be carried. Blocks of salt (amuli) are current 
everywhere, and four salts generally go to a dollar. 
Gras cartridges, also, at the rate of twelve for a dollar, 
will generally be taken. 

Calendar. — The year begins on the ist of Miskar- 
ram, which corresponds to about our loth of Sep- 
tember, and the Abyssinian reckoning is some seven 
years and eight months behind ours. Thus, Feb- 
ruary 2nd, 1904, is, I believe, the 26th day of Tarr, 
in the "year of Grace 1896." The year is divided 
into twelve months of thirty days each, and the five 
extra days, known as " pagmen " or " quaggimi," are 
put on at the end of the year, and are treated as 
holidays. In leap year a sixth day (Kodis Yohannis) 
is added. Although the year is thus divided, most 
people appear to remember dates by important events, 
and the time of day is calculated by the altitude of 
the sun. There are neither watches nor clocks in the 
country except amongst a few olSicers and odd indi- 



194 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

viduals, and very few of them even seem to know 
how to read the watches. In feet "the enemy," 
time, does not enter seriously into their calculations. 

Seasons. — ^The year in Abyssinia is divided into two 
seasons — "Baga," the dry season, from October to 
May, and "Karamt," the wet season, from June to 
September. Such things as eclipses, falling stars, 
comets, and the rest are calmly looked upon as the 
inscrutable will of God and as things that must needs 
be. They do not give them a thought: they mind 
their own business, they say, and attach no import- 
ance to things that do not concern them. By many 
of the ignorant, however, a comet is looked upon as 
a sign that the nation will go to war with somebody. 

Posts. — ^There are no olSicial post ojSicers in Abys- 
sinia, the King and the Chiefs employing special 
mounted messengers as required. There are a telegraph 
and a telephone between Harrar and Abis Ababa, of 
Swiss construction, and the profits go partly to the 
King, and partly to the Swiss engineer who, I believe, 
constructed the line at his own expense except that 
Menclik provided the labour. 

Education. — There is no system of public education, 
and what is done in that way consists in the priests* 
giving instructions to the sons of noblemen and of 
ruling persons in reading and writing Amharic, while 
perhaps, in some cases, instruction is given in the 
official Semitic language, Geez, which appears to 
possess a certain literature, chiefly in the form of 
translations; but this language is not used by the 



JUSTICE AND CRIME 195 

people for speech. I found that most of the men 
could count if they began at one, but they were 
always very suspicious of being taken in. 

Justice and crime. — Only the King can order a man 
to be hanged, and sometimes the relatives of the con- 
demned man will obtain permission to shoot him 
whilst he is hanging in order to lessen his pain. The 
different Ras's can inflict punishments short of hang- 
ing, such as imprisonment, flogging round the market 
place, and fines. Grave cases are always brought 
before the tribal Chief, but the general civil law is 
administered by special judges, "Afa Negoos," whilst 
petty squabbles are settled by juries of from five to 
twenty members. 

An inveterate thief may have his left hand removed ; 
for a very grave oflTence he may lose his right hand, 
and occasionally his left foot as well. Before being 
subjected to these mutilations, however, the oflPender 
must be tried and found guilty before three judges, 
and the sentence must be confirmed by the King. 
The execution of this sentence, like that of hanging, 
must be done publicly. 

Some of the punishments inflicted for personal 
assaults are graded in a peculiar way. One day in 
camp, for example, an Abyssinian soldier hit another 
man on the head and inflicted a considerable scalp 
wound with a fracture of the skull ; for this he was 
kept in chains for some days and then released on 
payment of a fine of $2. If, however, he had simply 
cursed the other man, without hitting him at all, the 



196 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

fine would have been $14 (how undesirable a place 
Abyssinia would be for the drivers of some of the 
vehicles of the metropolis !). If he had hit the other 
man and broken an arm or a leg bone, the usual fine 
would have been $160. For killing another man in 
self-defence the fine is $150, and hanging is the 
punishment for murder. Although in this way there 
appears to be a certain amount of discfimination in 
the awards of punishment, in practice there is very 
little, for the vast majority of Abyssinians are no 
more able to pay a fine of three dollars than they 
are one of three hundred, and if a man cannot pay 
his fine he is thrown into prison and kept there in 
fetters until he can, which may be never. 

As we shall see, the marriage and divorce laws are 
very lax and easy to manipulate. Religious fanaticism 
is almost non-existent, and, although there is a good 
deal of hard drinking, there is a very noteworthy ab- 
sence of drunkenness. It is probably within the mark 
to say that these three things together, or one or 
other of them, are responsible for five-sixths of the 
world's troubles, and it is therefore easy to under- 
stand why there is so remarkable an absence of crime 
in Abyssinia as it is understood there ; for that such 
is really the case seems beyond doubt. 

Lebashai {Thief Catcher).— For the detection of theft, 
professional thief catchers, or lebashai, are extensively 
employed, even by the Emperor Menelik and by the 
great Chiefs. 

If anything is stolen a Ubashai is sent for, and at 



THE THIEF CATCHER 197 

the same time is paid $3 as a consultation fee. He 
decides on visiting the house on a certain day and 
preparations for his entertainment are begun, since he 
has to be feasted after the discovery of the thief. If, 
say, he intends proceeding to-morrow, he sends his 
medium, usually a boy of about ten years of age, to 
the house to-night, and the boy receives strict injunc- 
tions that, after his sunset meal, he is not to touch 
food or drink of any kind. The libashai comes in the 
morning, and the inmates of the house and the neigh- 
bours assemble for the ceremony. The boy medium 
is brought forth and the l^bashai gives him some 
powder in milk to drink, and then makes him smoke 
a big pipe with a long stem and the bowl filled with 
some form of narcotic leaf — perhaps Indian hemp. 
The boy inhales every whifF of the smoke until he 
becomes semi -unconscious or intoxicated. A hitch 
muslin band is then made round his waist and he gets 
up and proceeds in his mesmeric {?) trance in a certain 
direction. After wandering about for a varying period, 
if he has failed to see the thief amongst the crowd, he 
enters a house and lies down. The house in which 
he lies down is supposed to harbour the thief, or the 
thief has recently visited it, and the owner of the 
house has to produce the delinquent or find someone 
to go bail for him. If the boy sees the thief any- 
where he goes up to him and slaps him. The person 
slapped, whether the thief or not, has to pay over 
a sum equal to the value of the article stolen, to pay 
damages, the expenses of the entertainment which 



198 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

follows and the libashai's fees. If the owner of the 
house wherein the boy may lie down fails to produce 
the thief, he has to pay these sums or is imprisoned 
until he does so or can find bail for himself. After 
the boy has performed his duties he is given an 
emetic, and the l^bashai strikes him with a wand 
three times, saying each time, " Come to ; come to ; 
come to." The boy then recovers, and thereby gives 
the signal for the feasting to begin. 

It thus happens that if a man is able to afford the 
libashai's consultation fee and to provide the neces- 
sary feast, he is hirly sure to receive his expenses 
again, the value of the thing lost as well as appropriate 
damages, whilst the real thief may escape and an 
innocent man may be punished. 



CHAPTER X 



CHAPTER X 

Abyssinian Customs (continued) : Dress, male and female — Sleep — 
Food — Drink — Industries — Musicians — Marriage : i, by jury ; 
2, by sacrament; 3, by concubinage — Divorce — Marriages 
amongst the Gallas — Abyssinian baptism, circumcision, names, 
vaccination, religion — ^The priests — Fasts — Feasts — Medicine — 
Hystero-epilepsy — Booda 

Dress 

^ I ''HE dress of the Abyssinian soldier has already 
been described, and in its essentials it repre- 
sents that of the men generally, nearly all of whom 
go about armed with a rifle and with a knife or some 
other weapon stuck in their girdle. 

The women's dress is simplicity itself. They wear 
a long skirt or chemise of loose proportions, gathered 
in at the waist by a few yards of a thin muslin girdle, 
giving the wearer the appearance of having on a 
blouse and skirt ; the sleeves are loose at the arm 
and tight at the forearm, and are often highly orna- 
mented at the cuffs. Black felt hats are often worn, 
and the women of quality almost invariably have an 
embroidered silk cape such as the men wear. The 
poor women go about bareheaded or bind a yard or so 
of muslin round their heads. Abyssinian women, like 
women generally, covet adornments, and they bedeck 
themselves, when they can afford it, with bangles, 

201 



202 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

rings, anklets and other ornaments. Like the men, 
they wear a silk cord round the neck, to which 
crosses, toothpicks, earpicks and rings are attached. 
They dye their nails with henna, tattoo their gums 
blue, put black pigment (kohl) on their eyebrows, 
eyelashes and eyelids, and they plaster any amount 
of ghee on their hair, so much so that it dribbles 
down on to their shoulders and keeps the skin soft, 
smooth, and glossy, and serves incidentally to still or 
stifle the lice. Since, however, aromatic oils from 
India and elsewhere were introduced the women of 
the better classes use lemon or almond oil for this 
last purpose. Their hair is black and curly, and 
does not appear to grow more than a few inches 
in length ; sometimes it is cut short, but very often 
it is plaited into ridges and furrows, running from 
front to back ; but girls are accustomed to have a 
circular shaved patch on the crown of the head. A 
woman's hair toilet may occupy several hours every 
two weeks or so. They go barefooted and ride 
straddle-legged like the men. Women of the upper 
classes carry parasols, usually home-made or country- 
made, but sometimes silk ones of French manu- 
^cture. 

The faces of the people bear striking testimony to 
their mixed Hamitic and Semitic origin, and here and 
there the element of negroid infusion is shown.* 

Sleep. — Both men and women divest themselves of 

^ The Arabic word habashe ('< mixed '') has been applied to the 
Abyssinians for this reason. 




TWO SHORN I^AMBS— I'llCSAH AND GKORGIS. 




pool, IN RIVKR BED— GORAHAI. 



Page 203. 




I 



FOOD 203 

their day clothes at night and wind themselves in 
their night sheet, or jamma, a man and wife usually 
wrapping themselves in a single jamma. People of 
"quality" sleep on angareebs, or the native four- 
poster beds, with fibre ropes laced criss-cross and 
lengthways ; but " common " people sleep on carpets 
or skins, on the floor. 

Food. — At home it is usual for them to eat their 
food oflT a bamboo- and -wickerwork table (gabali), 
while they squat round it on the carpet. Standing 
beside the gabali, as a sort of side table, is an inkab, 
or covered wickerwork tray. They all cat together, 
smacking their lips and making as much noise as 
possible, so as to evince their relish for what is pro- 
vided for them. They talk incessantly during the 
meal, and drink all they can get. The cost of living 
for the average Abyssinian is about two dollars, or 
four shillings, a month. 

Injerra is, par excellence^ their staple article of diet. 
It is a kind of light, thin, aerated chupattie, baked in 
large thin cakes of about sixteen by twenty inches, 
and is made of tefF flour. Every Abyssinian, when he 
can get it, eats about a couple of square yards of this 
daily, and mainly subsists on it, just as the natives 
of India do on rice and ghee. I ate some at Ras 
Makunnan's and thought it excellent. Large quanti- 
ties of salt are eaten, and chilli paste, made from 
powdered chillies and warmed ghee, is a fevourite 
relish with meat and vegetables. 

When they can procure it, they eat heartily of 



204 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

meat ; in fact, they gorge themselves with it, as, for 
instance, at feasts and banquets. They prefer the 
meat boiled, and they like it to be followed by a rich 
dessert of raw beef. Raw mutton is not used in this 
way but is dried into " biltong." 

They will eat you out of house and home in ghee 
(or the native clarified butter made from cow's or 
goat's milk); and "dabo kolo," hard marble -like 
balls of tefF flour fried in ghee and flavoured with 
chilli paste, and corresponding to our biscuits, is 
very much esteemed when campaigning. Fruit is 
practically unknown, but they are fond of peas, 
lentils and wild cauliflower. 

They care nothing for sweets or confectioneries, 
or for any such creature comforts, and nothing will 
induce them to drink camel's milk. In both respects, 
so far as I know, they are the antithesis of the 
Somali. 

Drin\. — Birz (made of honey-water) and unsweet- 
ened coflPee are the favourite drinks of the teetotalers, 
and they will take any quantity of these. A few 
persons like tea and sweetened coflTee, but only a few. 

There are three favourite alcoholic drinks, namely : — 

Tejy a mixture of honey and water, fermented and 
flavoured by the addition of the leaves of the gesho 
plant ; 

Talla^ a beer made from malted grain, either 
barley, jowari (dhoura shami), or mealies (dhoura 
Hindi, or Indian corn), which is said to produce in 
the consumer a bulldog courage ; and 



INDUSTRIES 205 

Araki^ or distilled tej, to which oil of aniseed is 
added, and which they drink with great gusto. 

The apparatus of the Abyssinian distiller consists 
of two earthenware vessels — a retort and a condenser 
respectively — which are connected by a tin tube. 
Cow-dung is used to close the apertures of the vessels, 
and sometimes a wet rag is tied round the inter- 
vening tube to assist condensation. In recent years 
the Greeks and Armenians have secured the greater 
part of " the trade " by making better and cheaper tej 
and araki than the Abyssinian manufacturer, whose 
implements remind one of the primeval and illicit 
stills that are sometimes met with even now in the 
west of Ireland. 

Very few Abyssinians take snufF or smoke tobacco, 
except in towns, where they come in contact with 
Europeans ; and I have seen more men chewing 
tobacco than smoking it. 

Industries. — Wood, charcoal, and cow-dung are used 
as fuel. Coal is being looked for by some foreign pros- 
pectors, but it does not appear as yet to have been 
found in remunerative quantities. General agricul- 
ture, coffee-growing, the collection of honey for the 
manufacture of tej and araki, weaving and embroider- 
ing, goldsmith's and blacksmith's work are the chief 
industries ; but the men are generally very handy, 
and the making of clothes and tents, particularly, 
appears to come naturally to them. 

There are some professional painters of a crude 
sort, whose chief work is the depicting of Biblical 



2o6 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

scenes and saints in vivid frescoes on the walls of 
churches, and the illustration of parchment Scripture 
manuscripts. Musicians will play a few monotonous 
tunes for hours at a stretch. The one we had in 
camp seemed to be always twanging his "bagana** 
(harp), and he appeared to depend mainly on his wit 
in composing extempore topical songs, which were 
received with great applause and clapping of hands. 

So far as one was able to ascertain, there appear to 
be no caste distinctions. The only thing is that the 
Christians everywhere look down on the Mohamme- 
dans, by whom the sentiment is heartily reciprocated. 
It was difficult to see that there was much reason in 
conduct for the assumption of superiority on either 
side. 

Marriage. — The status of women in Abyssinia 
seems to be a very humble one. They appear to be 
considered only from the point of view of marriage 
and for the bearing of children ; and, with the 
peasant classes, as much work as possible is got out 
of them. 

There are three processes of marriage — namely, 
marriage by jury, marriage by sacrament, and con- 
cubinage. 

By Jury. — Marriage by jury^ or before witnesses^ is 
the commonest method, and averages from 80 to 
90 per cent, of all unions. Witnesses to the number 
of five are beaten up, two at least of whom are elders 
or elderly men. The note of preparation is sounded, 
and the prospective Benedict and his partner are in 



MARRIAGE BY JURY 207 

turn sworn " by the death of " (naming their 

Chief), the man saying, " I marry this woman," and 
the woman replying, "I marry this man." The 
thing is then done, the witnesses approving. 

The preliminaries of this form of wedding are 
often somewhat as follows — ^the elaboration of the 
proceedings depending upon the status of the parties. 
The man meditating matrimony employs the services 
of an old man to act as deputy in approaching the 
father of the girl on whom he has set his desire, and 
with whom he seeks an alliance — the girl's feelings in 
the matter being a negligible quantity. 

The bridegroom's deputy and the prospective 
fether-in-law go through the preliminaries of the 
arrangements of the settlements and so forth, the 
marriage day is discussed and agreed upon, and pre- 
parations for the feast are straightway begun by both 
sides. On the evening of the day before the wedding, 
the bridegroom, accompanied usually by four selected 
men as deputies, repairs to the house of the bride's 
fether, to whom the deputies, standing, convey the 
bridegroom's compliments. They are then asked what 
they want, and they reply, " We want your daughter, 
and we wish to effect an alliance with you." After 
the same question and answer have been repeated 
three or four times, the father of the bride, speaking 
by deputy, asks them what they have brought, or, 
literally, "What are you holding?" whereupon, in 
proportion to the bridegroom's circumstances, the 
deputies produce clothes, honey, money, ornaments, 



2o8 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

etc., as peace-ofFerings and as introductoiy presents. 
The father's deputy then inquires into the number of 
sheep and cattle, the amount of land and other belong- 
ings of the bridegroom, whose deputies in reply give 
an account of the same, holding back a part, in case 
the prospective father-in-law should not be satisfied 
with the first account. The bridegroom's possessions 
are then accepted as a sufficient competence, and the 
ceremony proceeds. The bridegroom swears " by the 
death of Menelik" or of "Ras Makunnan" or of 
some other great Chief, that he takes the girl as his 
wife, and she, swearing the same oath, takes him 
for her husband. All are then invited to the feast 
which has been prepared. The bride's father, his 
deputy, the bridegroom and his supporters, all sit 
at the same table in one hut, whilst the invited 
guests and servants have their repast in another hut. 
The bride is kept out of the way in the women's 
apartment, and although the bridegroom has seen 
her before that day no one is supposed to know that 
they are intimately acquainted. The bridegroom 
sleeps for the night in the bride's house and the next 
morning, after breakfast, either by song or conversa- 
tion, proceeds to show his impatience to take away his 
bride. He has brought with him a richly caparisoned 
mule for her, and usually two others for her female 
attendants or instructors. A trusted servant carries the 
bride from her quarters and seats her astride the mule, 
and her attendants are similarly transferred to the 
animals in waiting for them. The bridegroom then 



DIVORCE 209 

appears and kisses — not the bride, but her father's feet, 
and afterwards rides away to his own home. On his 
arrival there, another feast takes place, the bride being 
kept out of the way as before. 

Afterwards the parties may be married by sacra- 
ment, but very rarely. If the bride objects to the 
marriage, her objections are invariably overruled. 

Girls are usually married when from eleven to 
thirteen years of age, but the bridegroom may be any- 
thing from a lad of sixteen to a grown man. 

Sacrament. — Marriage by sacrament is the rarest and 
most stringent form of tying the nuptial knot, and 
only the big Chiefs, the nobles, all the priests, and a 
few others adopt it. For this purpose they attend 
church and take the sacrament, and swear before the 
priest or the high priest that they take each other to 
be husband and wife. Union in this form can only 
be dissolved by the Abuna, or Coptic Patriarch, who 
is head of the Abyssinian Church. 

Concubinage. — In concubinage a man, through the 
medium of a friend, approaches and makes proposals 
to, say, a certain agreeable-looking woman, with a view 
to bringing about an alliance or partnership with her, 
and if her consent is gained the business is concluded. 

Divorce. — A man is allowed to have only one legal 
wife, but the number of concubines is not limited. 
The divorce proceedings are of the simplest possible 
character. If the parties have been married by jury, 
this same jury or any other can dissolve the marriage 
by the applicants appearing together before them and 



2IO WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

concurring in the divorce, or the man alone can 
appear before the jury and swear " By the death of 
Menelik I divorce this woman,*' and the thing is done. 
Nothing could be simpler or more one-sided than 
that, yet I was told that in 99 per cent, of the 
cases it is the woman who is the plaintiff. The 
divorce jury is made up of a judge, two representa- 
tives of the man's part and two of the woman's part. 
If the woman wants the divorce, she comes forward 
and says, "Release me from the marriage tie with 
this man," and if the man agrees, it is finished ; but 
if, as sometimes happens, he objects, he replies, 
" I decline to divorce her." The case is then gone 
into by the representatives on both sides pleading 
and bringing forward witnesses, and the decision rests 
with the judge, who, if he is satisfied that there is 
reasonable ground for divorce, declares the marriage 
annulled. Half the property goes to the woman, and 
she has the custody of the children up to four years 
of age, the father being responsible for the support of 
both mother and children until that time. Afterwards 
the children come under the father's charge and his 
responsibility for the support of his divorced wife 
ends. Should a man discover his wife in adultery, 
he can obtain satisfaction by shooting the adulterer, 
and the law exonerates him. 

A moment's digression may be allowed to describe 
the usual marriage procedure amongst the Gallas. 
With them, if a man, either by personal knowledge 
or by report, takes a fancy to a girl, he seeks an inter- 



MARRIAGES AMONGST THE GALLAS 211 

view with her father, settles the preliminaries and 
comes to an understanding with him, arranging to see 
as much of the girl as possible. After a time he 
decides whether he will marry her or not. If he 
decides on marriage, elderly men are sent to the girl's 
father with green grass, typifying plenty or prosperity, 
and Sunday is always selected as the day of the 
visit. The elders fix upon a day for a second visit, 
and on that occasion they bring a ring, either of silver 
or copper, according to the affluence of the parties, 
and the girl's father places it on her right little finger. 
The preparations then begin for the marriage feast. 
On the appointed day a number of horsemen, repre- 
sentatives of both the bride and the bridegroom, 
assemble at the bride's house, each man holding a 
spear-shaft. The bride is then brought out, set 
on a horse or a mule and proceeds with a small 
personal following, and with the parties of horsemen, 
to the bridegroom's house. The bridegroom rides on 
ahead, carrying a branch in his upraised hand — whether 
typical of the "green bay tree" that flourishes, or of the 
" tree of knowledge," I do not know — and the parties 
of horsemen engage in a sham fight on the journey. 
Arrived opposite the bridegroom's house, the cavalcade 
halts, and a sheep is brought and killed by the pro- 
spective husband at the door of his home. He dips 
a finger in the blood and marks the bride with it on 
the forehead, on both cheeks, and just above the 
breast-bone. The marriage party then enters the 
house, and the feast begins. In one respect, at least. 



212 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

the Galla marriages are superior to the Abyssinian, 
namely, that the girls are generally somewhat older. 

The baptism of an Abyssinian male child takes 
place almost invariably on the fortieth day after birth, 
and of a female child when she is about two months 
old. It is a canon of the Abyssinian religion that no 
uncircumcised child shall be baptised, and the circum- 
cision of infants of both sexes is usually performed 
from ten to fifteen days after birth. 

The following appeared to be the most common 
christian names, the men's names being taken from 
those which seemed most popular amongst our grass- 
cutters : — 

men's names 



Johannes . 


. signifies John 


Gabriel 


5> 


Gabriel. 


Raflel 


» 


Raphael. 


Welde Yes 


jy 


Son of Jesus. 


Welde Maskal 


>5 


„ „ the cross. 


Gabri Selasi 


» 


Slave of the Trinity. 


„ Yes . 


» 


„ „ Jesus. 


„ Welde 


» 


Son of a slave. 


Aferoo 


» 


Let him multiply. 


Desta 


a 


Joy. 


Heilemariam 


yy 


The strength or power of 
the Virgin Mary. 


Tasamma . 


>5 


He heard me, or he lis- 
tened to me. 


Weldemariam 


» 


Son of the Virgin Mary. 


Makunnan 


» 


Judge. 





RFJJGION 213 




women's 


; NAMES 


Werrkenesh 


. signifies 


You are old. 


Turroonesh 


» 


„ „ pure. 


Woobenesh 


» 


„ „ beautiful. 


Abenetah . 


» 


She has budded. 


Weletfimaskal 


» 


The handmaiden, or the 
daughter of the cross. 


weletegiorgis 


M 


The handmaiden, or 
daughter of St. George. 


HabtYshtrnfir 


» 


? 


Elfenish . 


» 


You are one in a thousand. 



The Abyssinians know nothing of the merits of 
vaccination, but they have a lively fear of smallpox, 
and they practise inoculation from a smallpox patient 
to a healthy subject, injecting the variolous material 
either in the forearm or in the wrist. I feel sure that 
they would take kindly to vaccination if it were 
judiciously introduced to them. One of our inter- 
preters, however, who spoke French feirly fluently, 
objected to it, on the ground that it only conveyed 
immunity for a period of seven years or so. He 
believed that inoculation from a smallpox patient, once 
done, was done for all, or to use his own expression, 
" once and once only." Upon this he took his stand, 
and nothing I could say could convince him of the 
disadvantages of his method. 

Religion. — ^There are three forms of religion in 
Abyssinia. The three ruling Abyssinian races, the 
Godjames or Amharas, the Tigreans and the Shoans, 



214 ^'^ITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

are Christians. The Wollo Gallas, like the Somalis, 
are Mohammedans. The Gallas are in some cases 
idolaters, worshipping trees as deities, or setting up a 
sorcerer or "kalecha," but for the most part they 
are heathen. 

The Abyssinian Church is under the Patriarch of 
Alexandria, and, with the exception of a break roughly 
lasting during the sixteenth and part of the seventeenth 
centuries when it was more or less directed by Rome, 
from the time of the appointment of the first Bishop 
of Ethiopia by Athanasius of Alexandria in the fourth 
century to the present time, its head or Metropolitan 
has been appointed from Egypt. 

The cathedral at Axum is basilican, and I believe 
there are many rock-cut churches in the country. 
The native churches in Tigr6 are said to be square or 
oblong in outline, but those we saw were all large 
circular buildings — tripartite, with inner, middle, and 
outer divisions, separated from one another by two 
walls, the outer one of the two being concentric with 
the enclosing wall of the building. The walls are 
studded with open windows, and a doorway leads 
from one circle to the next. The innermost or 
central division of the church is the sanctuary, or 
holy of holies, and is reserved for the Abuna, or High 
Priest. It contains the altar and the holy books — the 
latter, at Harrar, being kept in wooden boxes draped 
with gaudy print muslins. The sanctuary in the 
church at Harrar appeared to be circular in shape, 
though they are said to be always quadrangular. 



THE PRIESTS 215 

The middle court is for the priests, who conduct the 
service in Geez, or the ancient Ethiopic language, 
which none of the people understand. The outer 
court is for the congregation, who stand during the 
service. The church is nothing more than an elabo- 
rated labyrinthine native hut. The roof is generally 
thatched, but may be covered with old kerosene tins, 
as at Harrar ; it slopes up to a point, and is there 
surmounted by an earthenware cap and a brass cross. 
The walls are usually made of mud and sticks and 
may be plastered, and the whole building is often 
highly, but crudely, ornamented, the people spending 
much of their time, money, and labour in the work. 

Attendance at church is very regular ; but most 
persons appear to go either as a matter of course or 
because it is the fashion. There can hardly be said, 
however, to be much worship. The service is accom- 
panied by a good deal of the jingling of bells and 
castanets and the waving of crucibles of incense. 
The congregation is crowded in the outer court and 
can see the priests in the middle court only through 
the windows of the separating wall, and, during the 
service, they are accustomed to gossip and discuss the 
latest scandal, cast aspersions on their neighbours, or 
even indulge in heated, though perhaps subdued, 
arguments. They may even take advantage of the 
occasion to get hold of a victim — z debtor, for example 
— and make him disgorge. 

The priests, however, possess a great power, owing 
probably to the existence of the confessional and to 



2i6 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

the granting of absolutions, and the people are very 
subservient to them. Nevertheless, one is bound to 
say that practical or applied Christianity, as a European 
would understand it, does not seem to form a part of 
the Abyssinian religious practice ; at any rate, there 
was no evidence of it that I could see. Their 
theoretical notions of right and wrong are perhaps 
orthodox enough, but their general morality is a very 
convenient and slippery quantity, and truth is right, 
or not, according to the purpose to be served ; in 
fact, the whole system is that of an easy, look-after- 
yourself, go-as-you-please, characteristically Oriental 
sort of order, which might, so far as an outside 
observer is concerned, from its influence on character 
and conduct, be any system of religion or none at all. 
The priests derive their salaries partly from the 
Church lands, and they partly live by their wits. 
They receive the marriage, birth, and death fees, and 
they realise not inconsiderable pickings from writing 
charms on amulets, by copying out a verse of 
Scripture at a fee which amounts, perhaps, to a 
couple of dollars. The charm is usually written on 
a 'piece of pink paper, and given to the applicant 
with the direction to take it to a leather dealer and 
have it encased in leather. The priests also, as 
remarked before, act as scribes and tutors, for they 
know Amharic as well as Geez. To tell the truth, 
for all that one could see and hear, a goodly number 
of them seemed about the most incorrigible rogues 
in creation, always with an eye to the main chance. 



MEDICINE 217 

and united in keeping the people ignorant ; for 
otherwise many advantageous parts of their occupa- 
tion would soon be gone. 

Fasts. — The fast days are very numerous and, as a 
rule, are strictly observed. The fast of " Fasika 
Tom " corresponds to our Lent, and lasts forty days. 
During the fast people are not allowed to eat until 
the afternoon, and then only bread, vegetables and 
vegetable oil ; no meat or ghee is permitted, and the 
diet generally consists of bread and dry pepper. A 
patient of ours at Gorahai during this time, who was 
extremely anaemic and debilitated after a severe attack 
of fever, resolutely refused to break the rules of his 
fast in any way at all. The " Ganna " fast lasts ten 
days near Christmas. Every Wednesday throughout 
the year is a fast, and there are also many minor fasts 
— in fact, every saint and celebrated person seems to 
have his memorial in this form. So strict are many 
of the Abyssinian nobles that they fast, I believe, as 
many as 200 days out of the 365. 

Feasts. — The principal feasts are the Feast of the 
Cross (Mascal) about the middle of September, the 
Christmas Feast (Ganna) early in January ; the Feast 
of Baptism (Trinkat) in February; the Feast of 
Easter (Fasika) and the Feasts of St. Michael, St. 
George, St. Mary, St. Gabriel, and, now, the an- 
niversary of the victory of Adowa. 

Medicine. — Many very interesting points in con- 
nection with native medicine and with the prevalence 
of various diseases came under our notice, but for the 



2i8 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

most part they were of a technical character and need 
not be discussed here. The prevalence of leprosy 
has been already referred to, and certain specific 
diseases are also exceedingly common ; but, most of 
all, an enormous number of persons suffer from a 
cestode parasite, which inhabits the intestinal tract and 
which is no doubt chiefly introduced in the half- 
cooked or raw beef that is so much eaten ; for the 
parasite in one stage of its existence very commonly 
inhabits the ox. Assistant-Surgeon Wakeman told 
me that he himself annually dispenses some 5,cxx^ 
capsules of the extract of the Male Fern for the 
treatment of this disease, many of the patients coming 
long distances to obtain the drug from him, because 
they prefer it, both for its efficacy and from the form 
of its administration, to the infusion of the leaves of 
kusso which is the native remedy. The kusso plant 
grows wild in the Abyssinian highlands and the 
Amharic name of the parasite is " kousso," in recogni- 
tion of the virtues of the plant. Rheumatism, minor 
intestinal disorders, inflammation of the eyes and of 
the outer ear passages, and hysteria in women, are 
common disorders. Dysentery is extremely rare, and 
malaria is scarcely known in the highlands, though it 
prevails in the low countries. 

It is quite possible that some of the intestinal dis- 
orders met with are due to the enormous quantities of 
chillies and other hot condiments which many of the 
people consume, whilst dirt and neglect are responsible 
for a large number of the eye and ear inflammations. 



MEDICINE 219 

There are no general medical practitioners in 
Abyssinia, and I was told that there is no professional 
quackery. Each physician is a specialist ; one on 
rheumatism, another on eye diseases, another on 
stomach-ache, and so on ; but the list of their remedies 
is a small one. The superiority of European medicine 
is freely admitted and whenever it can be had it is 
readily sought. As a rule the people take what their 
own physician prescribes for them and " trust in God " 
to complete the cure ; they are, in fact, in that respect, 
a primitive sort of Christian Scientists. One method 
of curing colic is to make the patient stare into a cup 
of water, while the doctor repeats some Scriptural 
texts. The water is then drunk and the patient 
"very soon quite recovers." 

The surgery is of a rude kind, but is sometimes 
ingenious. Their treatment of an open wound con- 
sists in first cleaning it with their fingers and water, 
and then smearing it either with ghee, or with tallow 
from a sheep's tail, after which, in man, the wound is 
covered with a broad leaf, or bandaged with a piece of 
muslin. Fractures are set up by means of twigs and 
reeds woven together, and a most useful support is 
often made. I was told — though I cannot vouch for 
the accuracy of the statement — that certain profes- 
sional bone-setters will sometimes graft a piece of 
sheep's bone in a case where a bone has been exten- 
sively injured and a gap let in it. In some cases red- 
hot irons will be plunged into wounds in order to 
scarify and purify them. 



220 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

There are only two hospitals in the country, the 
one at Harrar, built and maintained by Ras Makun- 
nan, and another at Adis Ababa provided by the 
Emperor Menelik, and administered by a Russian 
medical staff. 

HysterO'Epilepsyy or Booda. — Devils by the legion are 
supposed to inhabit various streams, forests, mountains, 
and other places, and to be responsible for divers ills. 
Amongst them a fiend capable of producing a form of 
hystero-epilepsy known as Booda is particularly active 
in his operations. Women are by far the most 
commonly affected, but men are subject to it some- 
times, as was the case with one man in the Colonel's 
force on the expedition in the spring of 1903. The 
^^evil eye" is a prime factor in its causation, and a 
person with an evil eye may set it up in another by 
simply looking at him. They say the patient is 
possessed with a devil, and that no medicines are of 
any avail unless the administration of them is pre- 
ceded by some form of exorcism. One of the 
characteristic features of the disease is that the victim 
cries out " like a hyaena." The Booda specialist, on 
being applied to, sends a powder for the patient, first 
to smell, and then to swallow in water, and gives 
instructions that he should be brought to him for 
exorcism. At the interview the doctor seizes the 
patient's left hand, and then addresses himself to the 
evil spirit, which replies through the sufferer. Asked 
by the doctor who he is, the devil replies, " I am my 
father's son," making the reply three times over and 



HTSTERO-EPILEPSY 22 1 

bellowing the while like a hyaena. **How did you 
get into him ? " the doctor next asks, and the con- 
versation proceeds to trace the genealogy of the devil 
to the seventh generation. Then, after demanding in 
very forcible terms, " Why did you come here ? " the 
doctor asks, " Will you come again ? " " No," replies 
the devil ; " I only came in to-day ; I'm terribly 
nervous, and will be off at once and won't come 
again," or in words to that effect. " Swear that you 
will not come again ! " cries the doctor. " I swear it 
by the slave of the Lord of Hosts, and may He 
destroy me by fire if I come again," replies the devil 
On this the specialist releases the patient's hand, ask- 
ing the devil to tell him his father's name once more, 
or to show him his father. The patient then usually 
gets hold of a large stone, poises it on his shoulders, 
and walks on all fours in mock similitude of a hyaena, 
sometimes, maybe, to cause mirth amongst the on- 
lookers. Asked, then, what he will eat, he selects 
ashes, mud, charcoal, the dregs of coffee or tej, or 
some unpalatable stuff of that sort. The doctor 
advises him to take it, and after consuming the mess 
the patient lies down for a time, and then rises and 
asks those about him, in the most unconcerned way, 
where he is. They say that he has been ill and is 
now well ; and so presumably he is. 



p 






' .i 



CHAPTER XI 



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BHBiH^I 


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L.V \^'2^^ 


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k^ 


■^^^SBBHWB^^ 


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MORNING TRAYSR, ABDUI.AHI CONDUCTING. 



Page 33 5* 




HABR AWAL SOMAI.IS. 



PMge 228. 



CHAPTER XI 

The Somali : The shikari — General impression — Jabber — Work — 
Dress — Men and women — Status of women — Food and drink — 
Liars — Enmity between the Abyssinians and the Somalis : ex- 
amples of — Hockey match and a free fight — Narrative resumed : 
Ceremonial calls — Midgans — Extracts from the diary — My syce 
again : the last of him — Further accounts of the operations — 
Extended shooting expeditions — A three days' shoot — Oryx — 
Gerenuk — The Colonel's achievement 

A GOOD Somali shikari, when you find one, is 
said to be a splendid fellow, faithful, intelligent, 
and reliable, and in his special work, tracking, he has 
probably no superiors and few equals. The wilder- 
ness and the solitary place are an open book to him, 
and he finds his way through the tangle of the bush 
with an ease and accuracy that are truly wonderful. 
Many headmen also are valuable servants, and will 
get good work out of their subordinates, and keep 
things going smoothly. Most Somalis are good 
Mohammedans, and are therefore sober ; in many 
respects also they are cleanly. Major Swayne speaks 
well of them in general, and he has had an extensive 
experience of many parts of the country. 

The Midgan is an outcast tribe, and, except as 
casual guides, one had no opportunity of becoming 
acquainted with them. Perhaps the Habr Awal and 
Q 225 



226 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

the various Ogaden tribes, particularly the Rcr Ali 
and Rer Ugaz, of which we saw the most, are not 
up to the average. I can only say, and I think 
my comrades took the same view, that they are pre- 
eminently fair-weather followers. When all goes 
well, and when they are getting, as we had to give, 
more than their market value for their services, the 
work may be done satisfactorily, but if difficulties 
arose, 90 per cent, of them, I should say, would leave 
you to your own devices, and if you found yourself 
in a tight corner with only them to depend upon 
your executors at home would have to settle your 
accounts. A few Somalis are good, the majority are 
from poor to medium, and a great number are the 
most absolute wastrels I ever came across. 

They have an overweening conceit of themselves, 
and think that nobody on earth is to be considered 
beside them. They and their camels are at the head 
of creation. They eat cameFs meat and love it ; 
they talk, think, sing and dream of camels, and swill 
their milk. The aim and object of their life is to 
possess, count, breed and buy camels, and they work 
to make money in order to get more of them. 

Jabber is their great forte. They talk for all they 
are worth — a good deal more sometimes. They never 
leave off talking. They tell you that there is no race 
on earth that can talk like them. They talk during 
inspiration and during expiration ; they talk till they 
are out of breath, and then they talk, and they pride 
themselves upon their ability to do it. Above all 



DRESS 227 

things they dislike being told to hold their tongues. 
They will apparently obey you and observe silence, 
but all the while they are talking to themselves. 
When not c ngaged in active and violent conversation 
they indulge in a repeated long-drawn-out droning, a 
sort of musical whine, something like a bee in a 
bottle. 

They work well if it is at a job they like, such 
as drawing water from a well or cleaning one out, and 
the accompaniment of noise is such that you can 
hardly hear yourself speak. They love rice, dates, 
ghee, sleeping and dancing about equally well, the 
latter provided they have girls to dance with. 
Amongst personal possessions they prize a spear, or 
" waran," a hide-shield, or " gashan," a long stick, or 
" hungol," and a shorter clubbed stick, or " gudnor." 
The hungol has a crook at one end and a fork at the 
other, and is used for dragging and pushing thorn 
branches into position in a zareba, whilst the gudnor 
is used to break off the branches. When a man is 
not possessed of an axe, he values a large knife 
(" bilowa ") and a small one (" mindee ") in cutting 
thorns. 

They wear a " mawista," or loin cloth, and a tobe, 
or " marrada," of American sheeting about six yards 
long, which they wind round themselves. They either 
go barefooted or wear leather sandals called ^^ kabba." 
A " tisba," or string of beads, is generally hung round 
the neck, and sometimes pieces of amber or verses 
from the Koran, encased in leather, are suspended from 



228 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

it. The women that I saw were dressed much the 
same as the men, with their tobe tied over the left 
shoulder. A maiden wears a cord round her waist, 
removes it on marriage, and, at the same time, her 
hair, which had previously been free, is now enclosed 
in a blue net. Plastering the hair with mud is com- 
monly resorted to, partly because it is considered 
ornamental, and partly because it improves the condi- 
tion of the hair, and acts as an insecticide. 

When a male child is born to a Somali, the father 
rushes up screaming with delight and presents his 
wife with a coloured tobe ; if, however, the infant be 
a girl, all is silent. 

This proceeding is significant of the general posi- 
tion of women amongst the Somalis. Child-bearing 
and drudgery are their lot, and, as remarked before, 
when a woman has left youth behind her she soon 
acquires a wretched appearance, miserable and weary- 
looking ; and it is no wonder. 

The children's names are the same as those common 
in other Mohammedan countries, and, like the Abys- 
sinians, both sexes undergo circumcision. 

Should a father have occasion to chastise his son, he 
does so right heartily, heaping curses and impreca- 
tions the while upon the lad's progenitors — his father 
coming in for the chief share of abuse. There seems 
no incongruity in this to the man, and the fact that 
he is cursing himself does not apparently cross his 
mind at all. 

When a Somali has bad pain in any part he will 



FOOD AND DRINK 229 

brand himself there with a red-hot iron, and in this 
way one could often tell a man's medical history from 
the site and number of his scars. 

Camel's milk and water are the Somalis' two bever- 
ages, and mutton, camel's flesh, rice and ghee, are 
their chief foods. Among certain tribes, if a man has 
a cow that is reluctant to yield her milk, he takes 
a mouthful of milk from the vessel and blows it from 
his own mouth into the cow's. On one occasion, 
near Dadal, I saw this done, and it certainly appeared 
to have the effect of making the cow immediately 
submit to be milked. 

The Mohammedan creed, of course, does not per- 
mit of the use of alcohol as a beverage, and the 
Somalis rarely drink coffee. When they get familiar 
with tea, they like it, and take it very sweet. In fact, 
they like sweet things of any kind, and will conjure 
away a bag of sugar in a very dexterous fashion. 

They will not eat birds at all — fish, many of them 
have never heard of, much less eaten, and they will 
not eat any animal unless it has been properly 
hallaled.^ Their food is cooked over the usual stick 
fire, but I have often seen them ravenously tearing 
to pieces aoul or other flesh only half-cooked or 
nearly raw. 

Anything that a Somali can steal from a white 

man, without being found out, is regarded as justly 

his by right of possession ; and when a caravan 

breaks up there is always an amusing scramble 

^ Sec page 1 66, 



230 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

amongst the boys for knives, forks, spoons, and such- 
like, each man trying to secure as many as possible of 
other people's in addition to his own. 

As liars the Somalis are unsurpassed. Whether 
the lie serves any purpose or not is of no conse- 
quence. They love lying for its own sake, and, by 
constant practice, they do it exceedingly cleverly. 

A Somali who is not in the service of a white man 
despises another who is, although he himself doubt- 
less would be glad enough to take the work at a 
price. One day on a shooting expedition we fell 
in with a karia of the Rer Ugaz — many of which 
were round about Gorahai — and a quarrel arose 
between our followers and the herdsmen. It began 
over their refusing to supply us with camel's milk, 
of which they had an unlimited supply, on the 
pretext that they did not know whether we were 
Europeans or Abyssinians, and the next thing was 
that they began cursing our Somalis for being in the 
service of the white man. The wordy warfare became 
fast and furious, and some choice expressions were 
exchanged ; the fathers and grandfathers, long since 
dead, of the respective parties, coming in for the 
chief abuse. At last our men made a move, and in 
a fraction of a second the karia was cleared of all its 
males, who fled precipitately into the bush and dis- 
appeared in the dark. We got the milk, and, after 
drinking our fill, finished our dinner and departed. 

On February 14th the Colonel sent sixty -six 
tobes to Gabridehari for the purchase of camels and 



HOCKEY MATCH AND A FREE FIGHT 231 

goats, but the party had to return empty-handed, as 
the Somalis refused to deal. Time and again they 
declined to sell, even on most generous terms ; 
nothing but wickedly extortionate prices would satisfy 
them. On this particular occasion the supplies were 
obtained through the Abyssinians, who deal with 
them after their own fashion. They set what they 
consider just terms, and in this case the prices were 
10 tobes per camel, and Rs.90 for twenty sheep. 
The Abyssinians, on the whole, are remarkably 
tolerant in their dealings with the Somalis, and it is 
no wonder if, with an army in the field that must be 
fed, they find that, after lying and cheating as much 
as possible, the Somalis refuse point-blank to deal, 
they take by force what they cannot buy. No doubt 
the intense hatred of the Somalis for the Abyssinians 
is responsible for much of the difficulty, and it is 
very likely that under British administration such 
conditions would not arise ; but I am bound to say 
that I hope the day is hr distant when my country- 
men will spend valuable lives and treasure in ex- 
tending their influence over this country and its 
inhabitants. 

There were continual squabbles between the Somalis 
and the Abyssinians, both in camp and on the march, 
but perhaps the finest shindy of all arose out of an 
unfortunate proposal of mine over a game of hockey. 

Hockey was a great game in the afternoon outside 
camp, and both Somalis and Habshis used to play a 
great deal, often joining amicably together. On Feb- 



232 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

ruary i8th the Somalis were boasting so much of 
their play that I proposed an international hockey 
match, and offered a prize of ten shillings for the 
winning team. The idea was enthusiastically taken 
up, and the two sides, the ground, boundaries and 
the rest were properly arranged ; and the game 
was to take place the next day. Before the first 
quarter of the game had been played, it came to 
an untimely end in a fierce fight. Every man for 
the time being became a raving lunatic. All the fire 
of racial hatred was on the instant fanned into flame, 
and Somali and Habshi fell on each other with their 
hockey sticks, every blow being intended for a 
knock-out one. We had all gone to look on, but 
none of us could say how the thing started. In the 
twinkling of an eye all the players were engaged in a 
furious batde. Our voices were drowned in the din. 
For every combatant we laid hold of, two took his 
place, and within a few minutes the whole camp was 
involved, supporters rushing into the fray from all 
sides. The Abyssinians, finding themselves out- 
numbered by ten to one, rushed to their tents for 
their rifles and swords. Our excellent and usually 
level-headed Abyssinian interpreter, Johannes Fiesah, 
lost his self-control altogether; he lashed himself into 
an uncontrollable fury, and, for the time being, was 
beside himself, behaving like a maniac. With frenzied 
shouts and expostulations he incited his fellow- 
countrymen to fresh onslaughts upon the Somalis. 
The yelling and struggling and crashing of sticks and 



HOCKEY MATCH AND A FREE FIGHT 233 

heads went on unabated for five or ten minutes, and 
when rifles and swords began to come out we fully 
expected that the affair would end in slaughter. 
How the uproar was quieted was a wonder to all of 
us. We rushed in between the contestants, seizing 
sticks, swords, and rifles, pulling and pushing or 
holding the men apart as best we could, and it was 
an intense relief to be able to restrain the Abyssinians 
from using their rifles and swords. Duif seized 
Fiesah, and his capture had a lot to do with our 
success. By dint of frantic efforts on our part, things 
began to quiet down, and the two sides were separated 
and their hockey sticks confiscated. The list of 
casualties, not counting the slightly wounded, ran 
into double figures, but there was no injury of a very 
serious character. Anything but a native's head would 
have been cracked like an egg-shell under some of 
the blows, for many of the sticks were as thick as 
one's wrist, and everyone laid about him as hard as 
he could, and there was no attempt at parrying. 
Both sides were paraded independently before the 
Colonel in the evening, and were dealt with. To 
outward appearance, however, they had all settled 
down, and were the best of friends again the next 
day. 

The accident to the native in the well at Gerlogubi 
has been mentioned as an instance of what a native's 
cranium will stand, and the hockey match supplied 
many another, but we had under treatment at that 
time an Abyssinian who exemplified in a striking way 



234 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

the apparently trivial effect of even a considerable 
injury. He had been felled with a heavy clubbed stick 
shod with iron^ and had sustained extensive injuries on 
one side of his head. There were two large wounds 
exposing the bone, and in one of them it was frac- 
tured and distinctly dented in ; yet the man did not 
seem even stunned by the blow. He had walked 
to Wakeman to have it dressed, and never exhibited 
any bad effect beyond a little tenderness about the 
wounds. A Balambaras told us that his was a case in 
which red-hot irons would have been used in the 
wound if it had been under the care of an Abyssinian 
surgeon, so no doubt the man counted himself fortu- 
nate for once in being in European hands. 



After this long digression from the orderly narra- 
tion of our doings on Abyssinian and Somali habits 
and characteristics, the story may be resumed with a 
short account of our stay at Gorahai. 

On February 3rd, the day following our arrival, the 
Colonel, with his suite, walked over to the Abyssinian 
camp to pay a ceremonial call on Fituarari Gabri. 
After the usual salutations, we were regaled with 
coffee and dabo kolo, and a discussion of the situation 
took place through the interpreter. Before we left, 
Fituarari Kolassi and his following arrived, all present 
rising on their entrance and exchanging the usual 
graceful bows. The next day the Fituarari returned 
the Colonel's call, and the result of the deliberations 



MTOGANS 23s 

was a decision to hold on where we were until the 
receipt of orders from General Egerton. 

A certain amount of miscellaneous shooting had 
been going on about that time between Abyssinians 
and Somalis. On February 4th a murderer was sur- 
rendered for justice, and on the 5th from another 
affair we were provided with a couple of patients. 
The murderer was not the only culprit in this case, 
for months before some Abyssinians had killed three 
Somalis, and the Somalis now retaliated by killing 
two of the Fituarari's postmen on the road between 
Gabridehari and Warandab. 

An Abyssinian came in on the 5th who had been 
wounded by arrows in two places in a fight with 
some Midgans. He and two companions had been 
searching for stray animals in the bush towards 
Wardair, and had come across a party of eight 
Midgans, who, they said, had opened fire on them 
with their bows and arrows. The Abyssinians replied 
with their rifles, and stated that they had put an end 
to the whole party of Midgans. At any rate, they 
brought in six bows, quivers and arrows as trophies. 
Some of the arrow-points were poisoned, but those 
which inflicted the wounds were fairly clean and were 
very sharp, and the wounds healed readily on simple 
treatment. Three days afterwards the man brought 
the six bows and quivers to me as a thank-offering. 
I gave him a present of two dollars (four shillings), 
and he thanked me so profusely and bowed so 
naturally and gracefully that gratified vanity sorely 



236 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

tempted one to make him a present of a dollar for 
each bow ; such courteous homage was well-nigh 
irresistible. 

During the early part of February, and, indeed, with 
short intermissions during the whole time of our stay 
at Gorahai, dust-storms raged about us, sometimes 
all day. Often they were very violent, and on such 
occasions all you could do was to keep things well 
bedded down and sit tight, trusting to your tent- 
pegs. The photographs opposite page 168 give a 
better idea of what these " dust devils," or afreets, 
are like than any verbal description. 

A brief epitome of a few days' doings at Gorahai 
may perhaps be of interest as giving an idea of the 
kind of life in camp : — 

February ^th, — Fairfax and Ogilvy left for Gabridehari to 
take observations with the theodolite. Wakeman and I visited 
the Abyssinian sick camp ; fifteen new cases. The day's bag, 
contributed by all combined, consisted of thirty-seven sand- 
grouse, two partridges, eighteen pigeons, one wild tom-cat 
and two kittens. The tom-cat and one kitten were shot by 
Duff as specimens for Dunn, and he gave me the other kitten, 
which I tied to my tent-pole and found the little beast to be 
as wild and ferocious as a tiger. At 9.40 p.m. Dunn was 
hard at work skinning the tom-cat. The day was spent by 
me in reducing to a connected order a pile of notes on 
Abyssinian customs. 

February loth, — Rode over with Dunn on camel-back to 
the sick camp — twelve new cases ^ to-day, and there were 
over fifty camels for us to dress. A party of scouts was sent 

1 The number of fresh cases each day did not often exceed four- 
teen ; frequently there were not more than half a dozen, and a great 
many of the cases were trivial. 




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EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY 237 

out to watch the road between Wardur and Gerlogubi. The 
card-party after dinner adjourned to the mess-tent to-night for 
the first time, as it felt chilly. Baird has been reading up 
bridge assiduously, and is applying his knowledge with fine 
success. 

February I itb. — The latest fairy tale is that the Mullah has 
given himself up to Ali Yusuf and Osman Mahmoud. I 
entered up the treasury accounts since taking over charge on 
the 6th January, checked the balance with Dunn, and sent on 
the details to Sergeant Shepherd at Sesebani for entry in the 
ledger. Rose and his Midgan follower constructed a noose 
trap for hyasnas. A jackal sprung it after dinner, but got 
away. 

February lyb. — Citemi bagged thirty blue rocks with four 
cartridges. Dufi* added fourteen sand-grouse, and Dunn an 
aoul to the contents of the larder. It was horribly dusty in 
the early hours of the day. Fairfax and Ogilvy returned 
from Gabridehari. Ogilvy and Rose made a trap for hyaenas 
and jackals out of boughs and thorn bushes, with a simple but 
ingenious drop-shutter. All kinds of accusations and counter 
accusations have been made amongst the mess-boys and they 
ended to-day in Dunn's servant being saddled with draining 
half a bottle of whisky and a bottle of milk. 

February l^b. — A small mail came in. Two supposed 
Baggari (Mullah's own tribe) were seen spying out our camp 
to-day. Alone and myself each added an aoul to the pot. 
The Colonel sent a party with tobes to Gabridehari to try 
to purchase camels and goats. More notes on Abyssinian 
affairs. 

February l6th. — Abdullah Tahr and an Abyssinian supply 
column arrived to-day. Thank Jan Hoy for that ! This is 
not a land full of corn and myrrh. Dunn bagged seventeen 
sand-grouse in five shots, and also brought in four aoul. 
Ogilvy and I followed a wounded aoul in the bush, and when 
we had found it, had lost our syces, so had to tramp five 
miles back to camp, carrying half the carcass between us. 

On inquiry we became convinced that my syce had deliber- 
ately left us to our own devices, and had probably ridden off 



238 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

to camp on my mule. He has been an habitual defaulter, and 
is continually getting into some scrape or another ; shifts and 
excuses to get off duty are his favourite pursuits, and his 
capacity for lying, skrimshanking, and scaring game are truly 
extraordinary. I gave him the chance to revert to camel-man 
(for every Somali can do this work), but he said he didn't 
understand camels, didn't know the duties, and so forth, and 
would rather be sent back home than that. The headman 
reported very badly of him, so I paid him his wages and 
sacked him as incorrigible and worthless. 

Fehruary ijth, — ^The diary and medical work filled up the 
day. It has felt considerably warmer the last three days and 
nights. To-day at 3. 15 p.m., about which time it is gener- 
ally hottest, the temperature in a double fly tent was 96*". 
During the last three nights the temperature has not fallen 
below 60'. Fituarari Gabri visited the Colonel to-day. 

February iSth, — ^To-da/s bag was made up as follows : — 
Duff, an aoul and a gerenuk; Rose, three young wart-hogs 
and a lesser koodoo ; Ogilvy, three aoul ; and Citerni, thirty- 
five sand-grouse. All the medical officers were kept busy 
till noon, attending either to animals or men. Abdullah Tahr 
left for Jigjiga. He is looking after the young gerenuk for 
me, and tells me that it is now quite tame. The kitten tied 
to the tent-pole here is as wild, and as great a spitfire as 
ever. Scouts' reports from Gerlogubi are very conflicting — 
some state that the Mullah is making in our direction ; but 
such luck is not expected. 

A tremendous uproar arose in the native part of the camp 
about the middle of the night. Sergeant Tubb turned out to 
see what it was about, and to quiet it. Suddenly he found 
himself felled by a blow from a heavy stick. He jumped up 
again and went for his assailant, knocking him over on the spot, 
and damaging his own fist in the process. The native was no 
sooner down than he was up again, and fled wildly through 
the camp, making night hideous with his yells of " Murder ! ** 
or its Somali equivalent. His identity was now evident — ^he 
was my former useless syce Mohammed, who, instead of going 
away, had been living in the Somali quarters. There was a 



MY SYCE AGAIN 239 

mighty hue and cry, but Tubb eventually brought him to the 
ground and hauled him up before an extemporised court- 
martial, consisting of the Colonel, Baird, and Duff. Twenty 
lashes was the sentence, and they were administered on the 
spot. Baird*s sleep and diplomatic reserve deserted him alto- 
gether — or should we say were lost in a sense of duty ? — ^as he 
stood over the chastiser with a whip and threatened him with 
the direst vengeance if he failed to use his koorbash vigor- 
ously. The ex-syce was turned out of the camp directly 
afterwards ; but the thrashing must somehow have shaken up 
his latent abilities, for later on I saw him at Hargeisa acting 
as a camel-man, although '' he didn't understand camels at all, 
and couldn't do the work." 

February 2otb. — I was up at three o'clock, and spent the 
morning looking for koodoo or oryx, but saw only five female 
koodoo and three female gerenuk. Three aoul were shot for 
food. Yesterday Ogilvy stalked ten natives, whom he took 
for Baggaris. To-day I came across four mounted men, who 
bolted when challenged by the syce. 

February 21st. — First news, vid Hargeisa, of the declaration 
of war between Russia and Japan. Our instructions still are 
to " mark time." The Mullah, unluckily for us, has pro- 
ceeded east, and not south-west. Duff, Rose, Fairfax, and 
Baird, with a small party of Somalis, went out to scout the 
hills, to discover who these so-called Baggaris really were. 
They found a number of deserted karias, and ascertained that 
some Ogaden friendlies were the horsemen in question. 

On February 25th, the Colonel received a despatch 
from General Egerton through the Intelligence Officer 
at Bohodtle, which said : "The occupation of Wardair 
by the Abyssinians has served its purpose during my 
operations in Nogal, and I appreciate the exertions on 
your part which have effected this. I am now con- 
cerned in operations in the Warsangeli country, north 
of the Sorl, where the Mullah is reported to have 



240 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

arrived after a somewhat disastrous march. In the 
meantime, Manning is holding the North Nogal, and 
the continued presence of the Abyssinians at Wardair, 
Gerlogubi, or on the Webbe Shab£leh, would be ad- 
vantageous as a further deterrent to the Mullah from 
attempting a flight southwards." 

A second despatch was received later, in which it 
was definitely stated that the Mullah was in the Sorl, 
and that his apparent objective was Gebi in the 
Warsangeli country to the north. His stock had 
been raided by the First Brigade in the Southern 
Nogal, and by the Illalos and the Tribal Horse firom 
Bohodtle, on his march from Halin. After the action 
at Jidballi, also, the Sultan Islam and Ali Yusuf had 
despatched raiding parties against him, and great 
quantities of stock had been taken. The forces of 
the first and second brigades had joined hands behind 
him to the west and south, and General Egerton was 
then disposing his force to continue further operations 
against him in the Warsangeli district. 

In consequence of our continued presence in the 
field being desirable, twenty days' extra rations of dates, 
ghee, and rice were sent for from Harrar, and it was 
estimated that they would reach us in from twenty-six 
to thirty days ; ten days* additional meat rations for 
our men were obtained through Fituarari Gabri and 
a party of i,ooc Abyssinians, under five Chiefs, was 
sent to the Webbe Shabileh to collect grain. 

The Colonel was now able to permit us to go 
farther afield on our shooting expeditions, and we 



A THREE DAYS' SHOOT 241 

were able to get away in pairs together, in search of 
good ground. Most of us had obtained what speci- 
mens we wanted of aoul, oryx, gerenuk, and koodoo, 
and we were on the look-out for rhinoceros and lion 
haunts — of which we heard many rumours, but 
received little trustworthy intelligence. 

On the 26th Dunn went off in a south-westerly 
direction with a small escort, and slept out for the 
night, returning the next day with an oryx-head. 
Rose and Fairfax proceeded in the Gabridehari direc- 
tion, where lions were reported, but returned after 
two days without finding anything. 

On February 29th Ogilvy and I started on a three 
days' shoot in a south-westerly direction, hoping to 
get oryx, and if possible a rhinoceros, of which we 
had heard reports in the district. Basha Balina, with 
his four Abyssinian grass-cutters and attendants, came 
with us, and we took ten water tanks on five camels, 
two camels for the tents and for our own and the 
men's rations, four mules and eight men. We started 
in the afternoon, and after a four hours' march halted 
near a well, with a little water in it, close to a karia 
of the Rer Ugaz, Ogaden tribe, at a place called Harri- 
den. We obtained some milk and a sheep from the 
Somalis, and glowing accounts of rhinoceros sport 
were dished up for us. We dined, put on a guard, 
and bivouacked under a glorious moon. " The night 
is a dead, monotonous period under a roof, but in the 
open world it passes lightly, with its stars and dews 
and perfumes, and the hours are marked by changes 



242 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

on the face of nature *' ; so Stevenson says truly, but 
to sleepers like ourselves, these beauties were only 
very fitfully revealed. We were off before five o'clock 
the next morning, after a cup of cocoa and a biscuit, 
and we scoured the country round for rhinoceros 
tracks. The bush, however, revealed no new secrets ; 
though there were a great many old tracks to be 
found, and the euphorbia cacti were lying prostrate 
in great numbers in some places, having been knocked 
over and browsed upon by the rhinoceros. These 
cacti are from fifteen to twenty feet in height, and 
their trunks are about as thick as, or thicker than a 
man*s thigh. The animal leans up against the tree 
and breaks it down by his weight, thereby enabling 
himself to feed on the young green tops. We got 
back to camp about noon after a morning of pleasant 
although luckless toil, rested till 9 p.m., and then 
moved on to another camping ground, which we 
reached at midnight. 

Before daybreak the next morning we went ofF in 
different directions. I got a buck oryx before very 
long, and about eight o'clock unfortunately only 
wounded another. We followed his tracks, which 
presented trickles of blood from two wounds, for four 
hours, and then had to stop for the time being, owing 
to thirst and hunger and heat. After lunch the camels 
started off for a new camping ground, and the local 
shikari and myself resumed the tracking of the 
wounded animal. We followed his course for about 
three miles farther than before, but as it was getting 



ORYX 243 

late in the afternoon we had to stop again, as there 
were five miles of thick bush between us and camp. 
The shikari was confident that he could find the oryx, 
and promised that he would return and do so ; but 
I never heard that he was successful. As we were 
returning to camp we put up a herd of oryx in the 
thick bush, but could not catch sight of them until 
they broke into the open plain. As no cover inter- 
vened between us and them, I put up the 500 yards 
sight, and fired at what I thought was the best buck, 
knocking it over. It jumped up again, however, and 
I fired a second shot. In « few moments we heard 
a fall, but, through rapidly gathering darkness, could 
not certainly tell whether it was the oryx or not. 
First thing in the morning, however, the shikari 
went back and found that it was the oryx. It was a 
fine animal, but a female, and the horns measured 
33^ inches, while those of the one shot earlier in the 
day measured 26^ inches. It was seven o'clock when 
we reached camp, and Ogilvy and the Basha had not 
returned. The camping ground which had been 
chosen was some miles nearer Gorahai than we had 
indicated, so I lighted a huge fire, which shed a good 
light and gave them a clue to the spot. 

The next day we had a long tramp of eight hours 
without finding any game, and returned to Gorahai, 
after having made a rough circuit of a piece of 
country about twelve miles in diameter, lying ten 
miles south-west of Gorahai at its nearest point. 

Alone and Dunn left on March 5th to shoot in the 



244 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

Warandab district, and returned on the nth without 
obtaining anything beyond the usual game, except that 
Dunn had shot a young leopard. Fairfax and Rose 
were away in a westerly direction from the 5th to the 
14th, and found a place, Las Bullaleh, where there 
were good chances both for lions and rhinoceros, and 
Rose had shot a young rhinoceros. AU naturally 
regretted that this ground had not been discovered 
sooner, and Ogilvy and myself obtained eight day^' 
leave on March 14th, and set off in that direction. 

Before, however, describing this expedition, refer- 
ence should be made to a despatch from General 
Egerton, which had been received on March 2nd. 

The despatch, dated February i6th, stated that the 
Mullah had reached Gebi in the Warsangeli country, 
after sustaining heavy losses of stock on the Sorl. 
The First Brigade, under General Manning, was 
occupying the North Nogal, and was being pro- 
visioned till April 15th. A concentration was being 
arranged for at the beginning of March, to under- 
take operations against the new head-quarters of 
the Mullah. Details of the disposition of the forces 
were given, and General Egerton added, "I attach 
considerable importance to Rochfort's remaining in 
the neighbourhood of Gerlogubi, or on the Fafan, with 
a sufficient Abyssinian force until the result of the fresh 
operations in the north is known ; the object being to 
prevent the Mullah using Galadi or Wardair, should 
he, as a fugitive, succeed in eluding the forces in the 
Nogal." 



THE COLONEUS ACHIEVEMENT 245 

The Colonel, therefore, arranged with Fituarari 
Gabri to continue in occupation of Gorahai, and one 
cannot refrain from again expressing admiration of his 
achievement. Our force in the field was made up of 
men who hated the country they were in, who loved 
fighting, but who loathed standing still hundreds of 
miles from the scene of action, as we were doing. 
They remained for weary weeks where they could 
have no fighting and no fun, with nobody to look on, 
with nothing to brag about, all largely on somebody 
else*s account, and with others getting what little 
credit there was to be gained. To bring such a force 
to a wilderness like Gorahai, and to keep it there, was 
a task so full of pitfalls and difi[iculties, and so re- 
quiring high qualities of tact, moderation, perse- 
verance and firmness, that, although it had no sequel 
in the dash of arms, it was a performance so charac- 
teristically Anglo-Saxon, and so very meritorious, 
that even this humble chronicle should contribute its 
meed of praise. 



^ 



CHAPTER XII 



M 




SKINNINJ; A VICTIM. 




THI-. IIKAI) «»!• TH1-: lUI.I. KH INOCI- K« iS. 



Page 853. 



CHAPTER XII 

Shooting expedition to Las Bullaleh — Incidents by the way — The 
lion zarebas — Ogilvy's success — Rhinoceros tracks — Shooting a 
bull rhinoceros — Quarrel in camp — ^The Basha Balina — Return to 
Gorahai — Movements of other members of the party — Councils 
of war — Decision to retire — Camp struck and the route of the 
different parties — Gorahai to Sesebani — Sesebani to Hargeisa — 
Tribesmen's quarrels by the way — A lion story — Hargeisa — Har- 
geisa to Berbera — The party complete again — Fairfax goes to 
Illig — Assembly at Aden — Return home 

'IXZE Started for Las Bullaleh at 4 p.m. on 
March 14th, accompanied by Basha Balina and 
his two attendants. There were eight camels in 
the caravan for the conveyance of six water tins 
(four of them full), a tent, the provisions and the 
ammunition. Baird lent us his Paradox and '375 
rifles. Ogilvy had a -400 bore and we also carried 
our "303 rifles. 

We bivouacked at eight o'clock on the night of the 
14th, and were oflF again at six the following morning, 
passing Dadain wells,^ six hours' camel journey from 
Gorahai, and halting at Dadal, or Tatal, wells at 
twenty minutes past ten. These places do not repre- 
sent permanent settlements, but are occupied by 

^ See page 251. 
249 



250 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

moving karias, chiefly of the Rer Ugaz. At Dadal 
our guide, a Somali of the Habr Awal tribe, had a 
great quarrel with one of the Basha*s Abyssinians, 
and it would have ended in a general commotion if 
Ogilvy and I had not hurried up and separated them 
before the others could join in, as they were preparing 
to do. We left Dadal at 2 p.m., and at about 
eight o'clock arrived at Koptinok, six hours* camel 
journey from Dadal, where we intended to bivouac. 
After waiting nearly an hour without any sign of the 
coming of the camel party, which should have been 
not far in rear, the Basha hurried back along the road 
to look for them, and found that they had coolly 
zarebaed for the night about seven or eight miles 
behind. He roused them up in quick time and made 
them load up ; but it was twenty minutes after mid- 
night before they arrived at Koptinok, and it was 
I a.m. on the i6th before we got our dinner of 
the 15th ! 

There was a good supply of water in the wells 
and pools in the river bed at Koptinok. We saw 
fresh rhinoceros and leopard tracks about, and three- 
quarters of an hour before getting into camp we 
put up a pack of from forty to fifty wild dogs in 
the bush. 

The march was resumed at 5.30 a.m. on the i6th, 
and the site of Rose and Fairfax's camp at Las 
Bullaleh was reached at 8.50, and our tents were 
pitched on an adjoining piece of ground. 

The route to Las Bullaleh from Gorahai is shown 



THE UON ZAREBAS 251 

on the accompanying rough map. The total distance 
is probably forty miles. As far as Koptinok the track 
is a good one, but beyond that it is very broken, 
stony, and up and down hill. From a short distance 
before Dadain the way lies through thick bush of the 
usual character, except that a tree called "gerras," 
which I had previously noticed in some places be- 
tween Warandab and Gorahai, is very abundant. It 












produces an oval, edible fruit, which was then ripe. 
The fruit is about the size of a pigeon's egg and 
possesses a thin white shell or husk outside a layer 
of scarlet jelly of an insinuating flavour ; and it 
contains, centrally, a bitter kernel of about the size 
of a pea. 

Fairfax and Rose had constructed two zarebas at 
Las Bullaleh, about five hundred yards apart, some 
two miles to the north of camp. We tossed for 



252 WITH THE ABTSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

choice, and the upper one fell to me and the lower to 
Ogilvy. After a light meal at 4.30 p.m. we rode off 
and occupied our respective quarters for the night. 
These zarebas are made of thorn bushes close to or 
under a tree, and are made to look as much like a bush 
as possible. They are large enough to hold three men, 
and have a small window to shoot from and an opening 
for entrance and exit, which is closed by the occupant 
pulling in a large thorn branch. 

About 8.30 Ogilvy fired two shots, and bagged 
a lion measuring 9 feet 4 inches in length. We 
each had a sick camel tied up just outside the zareba 
window, and Ogilvy hit his lion in the shoulder with 
the Paradox, killing him outright as he sprang on to 
the neck of the camel. Nothing came near my bait 
the whole night. On the 1 7th we changed zarebas, 
and Ogilvy again had the luck, shooting a lioness as 
she sprang on to the bait, which that night was a goat. 
There were several lions roaring in the bush, but ^ 
again none approached my bait, and the same thing 
happened on the next night, although the morning 
showed that many had been sniffing round. I was 
tired by then of sitting behind thorns, so followed one 
lion's track in the bush for two hours, but lost it over 
stony ground. On the way back to camp, however, 
I came upon fresh rhinoceros tracks, and sent the 
boy to follow them, with instructions to let me know 
in camp if he was able to locate the animal. Ogilvy 
had not occupied a zareba that night, and on his way 
to meet me saw other fresh rhinoceros tracks and 



SHOOTING A BULL RHINOCEROS 253 

followed them up ; and before I had started breakfast, 
word came in from him that he had bagged a cow and 
a calf. He shot both animals within about twenty 
minutes from camp. 

Shordy afterwards my boy reported that he had 
tracked the rhinoceros he had been sent after, so 1 
took some .375 cartridges and the rifle and rode off 
with the boy in pursuit. After going about three 
miles I dismounted, and then followed the tracks on 
foot for another three miles, over ground that was 
very rocky and broken in places, and was all the way 
through dense bush, up and down steep hillsides, and 
across ravines. At last I caught sight of a part of the 
rhinoceros as he was moving through thick bush ; but 
he disappeared almost as soon as seen. I thought 
that he had got wind of us, for the wind amongst 
these broken hills seemed to blow from every direction, 
and it was often difficult to make sure that one was 
going against it. At last, however, we found that he 
had pulled up against a tree only about thirty yards 
away from where we had first seen him. Creeping 
in, I got at last to a place where about a square foot 
of his body could be seen through the thicket, and 
he appeared to be some forty yards away. He moved 
forward a little, thereby showing in which direction 
he was facing and that the part of him in view 
was on the left side, just behind the shoulder — the 
very place that was wanted. Quickly raising the 
rifle, I fired ; and the hit told. There was a headlong 
rush to the right and a thundering crash through bush 



254 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

and over boulders, downhill, and then a thud and 
dead silence. In a fraction of a second after firing 
he was invisible, and for a moment it was impossible 
to tell in what direction he was making, so I kept the 
second shot in hand, in case he was coming our way. 
Creeping carefully along in the direction he had 
taken — for there was, of course, the chance that he 
had come on soft ground, and that his movements 
were inaudible — I found him lying dead on the 
slope of the hill, about sixty yards away fi-om 
where he had received the bullet. In his fall he 
had broken off a piece of rock, which was heavier 
than I could lift, but it had left no mark on his skin. 
He was a fine old bull, the larger horn measuring 
eighteen inches in length and nineteen inches in 
circumference at the base, and the smaller one eight 
inches in length. 

Towards evening that day a ftirther Abyssinian- 
Somali fi-acas occurred, and it would certainly have 
terminated fatally had not Ogilvy and myself been 
there to separate the combatants. The Basha's female 
companion, a cook, was drawing water from one of 
the tanks, when Ogilvy's Somali shikari addressed 
her in an offensive manner, coupling the Basha*s 
name with hers in insulting terms. The Basha, over- 
hearing the expression, pounced on him like a hawk, 
and pinned him to the ground in an Abyssmian 
paroxysm of fire and fury, and could he have got 
at a knife at that moment he would certainly have 
plunged it into the man's heart. At first we thought 



RETURN TO GORAHAI 255 

it was only some Somalis indulging in horseplay, but 
when the situation was realised we doubled up to the 
Basha's tent and pulled him off his victim. He was 
almost out of his senses with rage, and struggled hard 
to make an end of the Somali ; for nothing, it seems, 
can reconcile the two races. As we were inquiring 
into the cause of the quarrel, the Basha rushed out of 
his tent with his rifle, and, taking a cartridge from 
his belt, had it into the barrel in no time. The Somali 
darted behind my back, and, seizing my breeches 
behind, clung close to me with both hands. The 
rest of the Somalis bolted in all directions, lest the 
Basha should turn on them ; but he was too intent 
on the man behind me. He refused to drop the 
rifle as he was ordered, so, with the Somali clinging 
close on behind, and keeping carefully out of sight 
of his enemy, I had to go up to the Basha, and 
Ogilvy and I then took the rifle from him. The Somali 
was ordered out of camp instanter, and later on, of 
course, we returned the rifle to the Basha. 

Another night was spent in the zarebas, but nothing 
came to either bait, as in all probability the dead 
rhinoceros provided food for the beasts. During the 
evening our mules stampeded, and were nowhere to 
be found, so the whole camp, except a suflicient guard, 
was turned out to look for them. At midnight they 
were located at Koptinok, and were brought back at 
daybreak. 

The next day, March 20th, we left Las Bullaleh, 
and reached Gorahai on the 22nd. 



7 2S<5 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

i It would be well-nigh impossible to find a bette 

, companion on an expedition than Ogiivy, or a mai 

\ more keen and level-headed. He joined Chatham ii 

January 1900, served in South Africa from Februar] 
1900 to September 1902, and was selected for thii 

^ duty in Somaliland in October 1903 ; which is not 3 

I bad record of experience in the first four years oi 

: a man's service. 

Alone and Dunn, on eight days* leave, left for Las 

I Bullaleh the same day that we returned to camp, and 

Fairfax and Rose went off towards Sesebani. A km 
days previously Alone had shot a lion from a tree 
about three hours' ride from Gorahai. 

On March 25th Assistant-Surgeon Wakeman left 

I Gorahai, en route for Harrar, in medical charge of 

a Balambaras, who was very much exhausted by severe 
remittent fever. We overtook the party later on at 
Sesebani, and I regret to say that the Balambaras died 

\ before reaching Harrar. 

. On March 28th Fituarari Gabri and his staff visited 

I the Colonel, and a prolonged discussion of the situa- 

tion took place. In the end it was agreed that we 

I were serving no useful purpose by remaining in the 

field any longer, and that the time for retirement had 
arrived. The Mullah's forces had definitely been 
located in the Warsangeli country, hundreds of miles 
from where we were ; he had been pursued north- 

i> * wards through the Sorl, and after the losses he had 

sustained there was no chance of his breaking back 
through the British forces, which were now between him 







X 
H 



Q 

O 

o 




SOMALI AND U;OPARD (DUNN'S). 




WIIJ) PIG. 



Pane 260. 



DECISION TO RETIRE 257 

and us, and reaching Wardair or Galadi before the 
rainy season. The rains, moreover, were close upon us, 
and with them the operations would have to cease. 
The Abyssinian supplies were now running short ; 
nothing had been received from the Webbe Shab^leh, 
and the party sent there had apparently taken their 
own line and were on the way back to Harrar. We 
had prevented the use of the district by the Mullah 
during the operations of the Somaliland Field Force, 
and had made it impossible for the Ogaden tribes 
of the district to help him as they had done before, 
and, beyond that, unfortunately, there was nothing 
for us to do. 

It was decided that the Abyssinians should return 
by the way they came, and that we should take the 
same road as far as Sesebani, and then march vid 
Milmil and Hargeisa to Berbera. The Colonel, how- 
ever, accompanied by Baird, intended to return via 
Harrar, in order to present his report to Ras Ma- 
kunnan, and Capitano Citerni was to proceed to Harrar 
to resume his duties. 

The distance from Gorahai to Berbera is about 336 
miles, or about 40 miles more than to Harrar. It is 
made up as follows : From Gorahai to Sesebani 114 
miles; from Sesebani to Hargeisa 125 miles; and 
from Hargeisa to Berbera 97 miles. 

During the operations we had lost one riding and 
sixty-six transport camels out of the 226 which 
originally formed our caravan ; but it was hoped that 



258 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

by pressing forward we should reach Berbera by the 
middle of April. 

No time was lost after the decision to retire had 
been arrived at, and we left camp at 2 p.m. the same 
afternoon, March 28th, en route for Gabridehari. The 
Abyssinians started later the same day, and came up 
with us at Gabridehari. As we were to march separ- 
ately, all the Chiefs came in to call on the Colonel and 
to exchange salutations and farewells. 

Alone and Dunn, from Las Bullaleh, joined us at 
Warandab on March 30th. Dunn had shot a lioness, 
a lion cub and a leopard, and Alone a lioness. The 
reserve supplies, coming from Harrar, met us at that 
place, and we received some very acceptable parcels 
from home. Fairfax and Rose joined us at Sesebani 
on April 2nd. Fairfax had shot a young lioness in 
the open, being the only one of us to get one in that 
way. 

There were rumours of lions on the Hargeisa road 
between Sesebani and Milmil, so Rose and I, with 
a small caravan, left Sesebani at 9.30 p.m. on April 
2nd, in advance 'of the rest of the party, which was to 
follow in two days. The Milmil River bed was 
ascended for five miles that night, and the journey was 
resumed at 4.30 the next morning, April 3rd. About 
seven o'clock we came across thousands of camels, 
which, the Habr Awal men of our caravan told us, 
had been looted from their karias by the Rer Haroun, 
through whose country we were now passing ; and 
continual squabbles took place between our men and 



TRIBESMEN'S QUARRELS BY THE WAY 259 

the natives, the latter of whom came up to us whining 
that they had been beaten and had had their spears 
and shields taken away from them by our men. There 
was still no news of lions and the Lower Milmil wells, 
twenty-seven miles from Sesebani, were reached at 
six o'clock the same evening. Countless camels 
thronged the place, and there were large flocks of 
sheep and goats, and crowds of natives of the Rer 
Haroun and Rer Ali tribes. There was plenty of 
green thorn bush for the camels, but no grazing for 
the mules, so we had to give them a feed of dhoura. 
It is not often that one comes across a place where 
there is equally good feeding for both camels and 
mules. 

The reports of lions and leopards were finally un- 
confirmed, so we decided to push on, and started 
again at 4.30 the next morning, April 4th. After 
three hours we halted at some wells, seven miles 
higher up the river bed than Lower Milmil, and 
we again found multitudes of camels, goats, and 
sheep, and the squabbling and fighting between our 
Somalis and the natives went on as before. At three 
o'clock in the afternoon we started again, and con- 
tinued on uphill till about 5.30, when we finally left 
the river bed and struck out into the open bush, 
entering, I believe, upon the Haud at that part. The 
way from Sesebani up the Milmil is for the most part 
over good, firm, sandy ground, and above Lower 
Milmil, particularly, the river banks are well wooded 
with goorah, gup, and other trees. 



26o WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMALILAND 

There are no wells in the ninety odd miles across 
the bush between Upper Milmil and Hargeisa, but a 
water-tank post was established at Arranarrhe, thirty- 
five miles from Hargeisa, and was replenished from 
that place. The soil thereabouts is red and sandy, the 
bush open, and the trees bare of green, but for some 
distance beyond Arranarrhe there is good grazing. 
We saw gerenuk, aoul, dubo kola (foxes), and a 
solitary oryx on the way, but there was no incident, 
except that we were caught in two showers of rain 
late on the 4th. We arrived at Arranarrhe at 7.15 a.m. 
on April 7th, and a characteristic lion story was 
there served up for our edification. Four or five 
lions were reported to have been seen, and to have 
killed two camels two days previously. Then it was 
said that one lion had killed a camel ten days before. 
Finally, the headman of a neighbouring karia ex- 
plained that, when they had come to the place a month 
and a half ago, the Somalis who were there before 
them had said that they had had a camel killed by a 
lion one night, but the headman thought that the 
place where it happened was from two to four days* 
march away. The last version of this story, as com- 
pared with the first, furnishes an excellent example of 
the kind of exaggeration the Somali loves to indulge 
in, and of the sort of thing that the traveller may 
waste time and energy upon unless he is careful to 
sift statements very thoroughly before acting upon 
them. 

From Arranarrhe until near Hargeisai descending 



THE PARTY COMPLETE AGAIN 261 

from the high land of the interior, the track is across 
an open sloping plain, which is covered in places with 
daremo grass, in others with tall durr grass, and in 
some places is bare. The bush is sparse, but I noticed 
sugsug in different parts, and, near Hargeisa, irgin, 
darr and gup occur in addition to the commoner 
thorn trees. 

There are many excellent wells at Hargeisa and 
those used by the garrison are well zarebaed. The 
fort lies on the right bank of the river bed and con- 
tains barrack rooms, a hospital, supply and transport 
stores and the usual offices. It was then garrisoned 
by half a company of the loist Bombay Grenadiers, 
and we received a cordial welcome from Captains 
Fellows and Hadow, who were stationed there. The 
sight of hens amongst the ostriches and other live 
stock gave the place quite a home-like aspect. It is 
very hilly all about, and there is plenty of game in the 
neighbourhood, but at that time it was the close 
season. Lord Delamere's shooting lodge is near 
Hargeisa on the Berbera side. 

Rose and I arrived at 10 a.m. on April 8 th ; 
Alone, Duff, Dunn, Ogilvy, and Fair&c, came in 
during the afternoon of the following day, and 
Sergeants Tubb and Shepherd, with the remainder of 
the caravan, arrived on the loth. 

The camels and mules were very done up with the 
arduous march from Gorahai, and two camels had died 
daily in the larger caravan on the way from Sesebani, 
so that it was necessary to rest for a day or two. 



262 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

Rose, however, had not been well on the journey 
from Sesebani, so it was decided that a small party 
should go on with him in advance. Fairfax, Rose 
and myself, therefore, with twenty-eight men, four 
mules and two ponies, and twenty-five camels, carrying 
four large and two small water tanks, two pans, grass 
and grain rations for the mules and ponies, tents, 
valises, light kit and provisions, left for Berbera at 
3.40 p.m. on April loth. 

The road from Hargeisa to Berbera is a well-known 
caravan route and need not delay us in description. 
Our midday meal on the nth consisted of soup and 
biscuits, and the soup perhaps deserves mention. 
We thought the dregs were meat and vegetable fibres 
until Rose got his portion, which exhibited a fine fat 
tadpole floating on the top. On investigation the 
water was found to be alive with tadpoles and thick 
with frog-spawn. Therefrom arose its peculiar con- 
sistency and flavour. 

Gamat wells were passed at 8 a.m. on the 12th, and 
we halted for the night at Orryodiyeh, rather more 
than half way from Hargeisa to Berbera. 

The country thereabouts is very hilly, broken and 
desolate, and our pace was necessarily slow. A peculiar 
tree, warrabkarron, grows amongst the rocks on the 
mountain sides in that part of the country. It looks 
like a pillar of rock, with a tuft of tapering leaves and 
a bunch of pink-red flowers on the top. We noticed 
it especially in a narrow, lo^ked-in valley, which is 
entered by a defile some^miles beyond Orryodiyeh. 



HARGEISA TO BERBERA 263 

We halted at the Malgu wells at evening on the 
13th, and on April 14th arrived at Berbera at 6 p.m., 
having marched 336 miles from Gorahai in sixteen 
days, and having cheated the rains, which was the 
object of our forced march. 

It was a change to get to Berbera, bad and hot as 
the place was, and a luxury, amongst other things, to 
get clear, cool soda-water instead of warm opaque 
sparklets, salt without baking-powder and alum, 
pepper without Keating's powder, sugar without sand, 
oatmeal and flour without weevils, tea and coffee 
without pepper, and soup without tadpoles and frog- 
spawn. 

Duflfs caravan came in on the i6th, while the 
Colonel and Baird arrived from Harrar via Djibouti 
on the 2 1 St, and so, once more, the British party was 
complete.^ Rose, for a time, was a patient in No. 2 
General Hospital and Sergeant Tubb rejoined his 
battalion, the ist Hampshire Regiment. 

On the 19th and 20th DufF paid off the men, and 
by the 21st all the stores had* been repacked, checked, 
and invoiced, and the accounts settled. In preparing 
for the journey home we forgot the dreary night 

^ Gerolimato resumed his duties at Harrar after the Expedition was 
started on its way. He was a hearty, loyal, and invaluable friend to 
all of us ; his great business capacity and powers of language were 
always at our disposal, and what Gerolimato does not know about 
cotton and coffee must hardly be worth knowing. It has been a grati- 
fication to all of us that His Majesty the Eang has marked his appre- 
ciation of the value of his services by conferring upon him the honour 
of the c.M.G. 



2^4 WITH THE ABYSSINIANS IN SOMAULAND 

marches, the waterless wastes, and the disappointment 
of not having had a fight; but we realised that 
physical conditions can impose a task which, though 
lacking the excitement of actual conflict, caUs for 
qualities none the less resolute ; and only those who 
have accompanied a force committed to an advance, 
with a doubtful water supply in front and with wells 
drying up behind, can appreciate the responsibility 
that is involved. 

Berbera had greatly developed as a military base 
since our former visit, and the views of No. 2 General 
Hospital (opposite page 9), under the command 
of Major F. W. Gee, i.m.s., may well serve as a 
model of the splendid arrangements which prevailed, 
which, so far as my experience goes, have not been 
excelled. We were most hospitably entertained by 
the various officers, and I may be permitted to express 
thanks to Colonel J. F. Williamson, c.b., cm.g., 
R.A.M.c, Principal Medical Officer in Somaliland, for 
the detailed information he gave me of the military 
operations and of the medical arrangements, as well 
as of the drainage, geological formation, meteorology 
and botany of Somaliland. 

On April 17th, in company with Lieutenant J. W. 
Little, I.M.S., I had the opportunity of visiting the 
source of the water supply of Berbera, which is in 
many respects interesting. It is situated at Dubar, 
eight and a half miles inland, at the foot of the 
maritime mountain range. The water flows out of 
the rock at a temperature of no' F. at a steady flow. 



RETURN HOME 265 

It is led through a cutting in the rock to a rocky 
reservoir which is covered in and ventilated, and 
thence it flows in six-inch iron piping to the town, 
filling the local reservoirs and the house tanks. It is 
as clear as crystal, very hard, and saltish to the taste, 
containing large quantities of chlorides, carbonates 
and sulphates. After twenty years' service it led to a 
deposit of lime salts in the pipes which reduced their 
calibre from six inches to four and necessitated their 
renewal. 

Fairfax left Berbera on April 17th, and took a part 
in the capture of the Mullah's maritime stronghold 
of lUig. He jumped overboard from the Mohawl^ 
and saved a lunatic from drowning, thereby gaining 
the Royal Humane Society's medal, and on April 
27th he arrived at Aden, where the rest of us had 
then assembled. Some of us had spent a few days 
there, which, thanks to the kindness and generous 
hospitality of Mr. Cowasjie, were very pleasant ones. 

There was room for us on the s.s. Mongolia when 
she came in, so we sailed in her on April 28 th, and 
arrived in London on May 8th. 



PLYMOUTH 

WILLIAM BRBNOON AND SON, LTD. 

PMNTBM 



HOOVER INSTITUTION 

To avoid fine, thb book should be ratumed on 
orbefdre the date last stamped below 



NOV 281983' 


I. :.^. :ii uS: 


Jf\U l'^> -^'-^